Department of Health and Social Care

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2019 to Question 253711 on General Practitioners: Finance, from which sources GPs’ surgeries can obtain funding for recruitment costs in the period before clinical directors take up their posts.

Seema Kennedy: Each Primary Care Network (PCN) is required to appoint a Clinical Director who will take up their post formally from July 2019. Under the terms of the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES), PCNs can claim a funding contribution for this role. In 2019/20 this is a payment of £0.51430 per registered patient for the period 1 July 2019 to 31 March 2020.Practices will receive funding for participating in a PCN through the Network Participation Payment of £0.147 per weighted patient for the period from 1 April 2019. This becomes payable once they have signed up to the Network Contract DES and the DES commences, from 1 July 2019. In addition, once established, PCNs are entitled to funding of £0.125 per patient per month from clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations, the first payment of which will cover the period 1 April to 31 July.Collectively, these funding streams and others mean PCNs receive £296 million in 2019/20. The Network Participation Payment and the clinical commissioning group PCN funding together reflect the additional work undertaken, including between 1 April and 30 June, to establish PCNs and appoint Clinical Directors.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Provisional Monthly Hospital Episode Statistics for Admitted Patient Care, Outpatient and Accident and Emergency data April 2018 - March 2019 (M12), what estimate he has made of the number of procedures for stress urinary incontinence and prolapse using mesh carried out during the period of high vigilance restriction which paused such surgery.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital publishes data on finished consultant episodes where a procedure for treatment of urogynaecological prolapse or stress urinary incontinence (insertion) is recorded.In year commencing April 2018, data is available up to March 2019. The March 2019 data is provisional.The most recent provisional Hospital Episodes Statistics data demonstrates that the number of procedures for insertion from April 2018 is 8,931 in total for all procedures, vaginally inserted mesh or otherwise.For vaginally inserted mesh, to which the period of high vigilance restriction relates, there have been approximately 31 total procedures up to March 2019 for the introduction of:- tension-free vaginal tape;- transobturator tape;- vaginal tape NEC;- the repair of vault of vagina with mesh using vaginal approach;This figure excludes data for the month of July, as guidance on the Pause was issued on 20 July to Regional Directors and Trust Medical Directors. For July, the total figure for insertions is 70, though this includes a period before the Pause came into effect.

Hospitals: Food

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merit of banning the (a) sale and (b) consumption of food in hospitals that is high in (i) fat and (ii) sugar.

Stephen Hammond: The National Health Service regularly reviews options to improve the provision and sale of food in hospitals. From November 2016 to July 2017 the NHS consulted on banning the sale of sugar sweetened beverages on NHS premises. Following this the NHS Action on Sugar scheme was launched and has reduced sales from 15.6% in July 2017 to 7.4% in June 2018 (as a proportion of total beverage sales in participating trusts). All 220 trusts have committed to this scheme, and 23 have stopped selling sugar sweetened beverages altogether. A targeted incentive scheme from 2016/17 – 2018/19 aimed to improve the food available for sale on NHS premises, targeting price promotions and adverts for unhealthy food and drink, encouraging trusts to provide healthy options 24/7, and setting limits on the percentage of packaged food and confectionary meeting defined calorie limits. Engagement with providers suggests that the scheme had a notable impact in raising the profile of healthy food and drink and in supporting negotiation with industry partners to ensure hospitals can lead by example. All elements of the incentive scheme are intended to transfer to the new National Standards for Healthcare food, which are due for publication later this year and which will draw on engagement with retailers, suppliers and patients. Patient nutrition is also currently covered by the five core standards enforced by the NHS Standard Contract which includes the Government buying standards and the British Dental Association nutrition digest. Patient menus need to meet the nutritional elements of both, including targets on sugar and fat, taking into account that catering requirements for groups who are nutritionally at risk often differ from those of the general populace. All organisations carry out nutritional screening using a tool such as the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool to identify where patients may be at risk. Work is ongoing via the Healthcare food standards and strategy group to continue to build on current guidance and targets for sugar, fat and salt.

General Practitioners: Prescriptions

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the average number of hours general practitioners spend on writing NHS prescriptions in England per week.

Seema Kennedy: The data requested is not collected or held centrally.

Pharmacy: Expenditure

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent on delivering the NHS England Stay Well Pharmacy campaign; and over what time period those funds were spent.

Seema Kennedy: The most recent NHS England ‘Pharmacy Advice’ campaign - previously called the Stay Well Pharmacy campaign - ran between 4 February and 17 March 2019. We are informed by NHS England that the overall cost of running the advertising campaign was £2 million.

Pharmacy: Medical Records

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the implementation costs and (b) potential benefits of community pharmacists having write access to NHS patient records.

Seema Kennedy: The Department has made no assessment of the implementation costs of providing write access to patient records. However, in future, our ambition is for pharmacists to play an even greater role within the National Health Service and we understand that write access to NHS patient records will support this.Providing read and write access to general practitioner (GP) records for pharmacists is complex. In some areas medical records are already shared between professionals to support locally commissioned services. To develop a national solution Departmental officials, NHS England and NHS Digital have considered important issues such as technical requirements, data standards, patient consent and data security to provide write access. Work is progressing and during 2019 pilots will commence to test that digital transfer can successfully take place between community pharmacy and GP IT systems.

Pharmacy: Finance

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to (a) the Community Pharmacy Referral Scheme and (b) the Digital Illness Referral Service in each fiscal year since the programmes have been in operation.

Seema Kennedy: In December 2016, a new referral scheme to community pharmacy was initiated from NHS 111 to community pharmacy in response to urgent requests for medication. This has been running as a pilot with national coverage achieved by June 2017 with over 4,000 pharmacies now registered to deliver the service. This pilot is named as the NHS Urgent Medicines Supply Advanced Service (NUMSAS) within the community pharmacy contractual framework running until October 2019.From December 2017, a further scheme started in the North East enabling the referral of patients from NHS 111 to community pharmacy for a community pharmacist consultation about minor illness symptoms. This pilot known as the Digital Minor Illness Referral Service (DMIRS) was extended to Devon, London and the East Midlands from December 2018 and is continuing until October 2019. Over 2,000 pharmacies are registered to deliver the minor illness service.Both schemes are funded by the Pharmacy Integration Fund with the audited spend provided by NHS England as follows: NUMSASDMIRS2016/17£9,600-2017/18£1,190,401£250,000The audited spend for 2018/19 is not yet available.

Health Services: Immigrants

Dame Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to suspend charging of migrants using NHS services and to repeal Section 38 and 39 of the Immigration Act 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Government believes it is only right that people who are not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom contribute to the costs of National Health Service care they may need whilst visiting or staying here. The Department has no plans to suspend The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations or repeal Section 38 and 39 of the 2014 Immigration Act.

Life Expectancy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the reasons for regional disparities in life expectancy.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Public Health England’s Segment Tool provides data on what causes of death are driving inequalities in life expectancy at both regional and local authority level. For regions where life expectancy is lower than England, the tool shows the causes of death which are contributing to this gap. This can be viewed at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/inequality-toolsThe NHS Long Term Plan has tackling health inequalities as a core focus.

Perinatal Mortality

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in rates of perinatal mortality in (a) the UK and (b) Slough constituency.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) report annual statistics on perinatal mortality. The latest release of these data show that in England and Wales, the perinatal mortality rate in 2016 was 6.6 deaths per 1,000 births. This is similar to 2015 when there was a rate of 6.5 deaths per 1,000 births. There has been a general decline in national perinatal mortality rates in recent years; for example, the rate in 2010 was 7.4 deaths per 1,000 births. Data specifically for Slough have only recently begun to be published by the ONS. Therefore, it is not possible to make an assessment of the trends in perinatal mortality in the Slough constituency at this stage. However, in 2016 there were 29 perinatal deaths recorded in Slough representing a perinatal mortality rate of 11 deaths per 1,000 births.The Government remain committed to the national ambition to halve the 2010 rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth by 2025 and to achieve at least a 20% reduction in these rates by 2020. Further information about the measures in place to achieve the ambition can be found in the NHS Long Term Plan at the following link:https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/nhs-long-term-plan.pdf

Sickle Cell Diseases: Life Expectancy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the life expectancy of patients with sickle cell disease since 2000; and what steps he is taking to increase life expectancy for people suffering from that disease.

Seema Kennedy: Evidence suggests that life expectancy for people with sickle cell disease is improving. This is due to a number of factors including;- Improved new born screening coverage to enable earlier diagnosis;- Use of the National Haemoglobinopathy Registry to monitor individuals’ health, treatment and their annual reviews;- Access to specific diagnostics and medication, such as hydroxyurea; and- A Commissioning for Quality and Innovation incentive has been in place for the last two years to improve access to apheresis for individuals with sickle cell disease.These factors are reflected in NHS England’s service specification quality indicators which providers are required to report against so that implementation can be monitored.

Dementia

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to engage with people affected by dementia on the development of the liberty protection safeguards code of practice.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department is currently collaborating closely with stakeholders, including those with lived experience, to produce the Liberty Protection Safeguards Code of Practice. It is engaging with the third sector, health and social care organisations, user-led groups and individuals. This includes organisations which represent individuals with dementia and those affected by it, for example the Alzheimer’s Society and Carers UK.

Pancreatitis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people living with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

Seema Kennedy: No estimate has been made. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in its guidance ‘Pancreatitis’, published September 2018, states that the annual incidence of chronic pancreatitis in western Europe is about five cases per 100,000 people. The male to female ratio is 7:1 and the average age of onset is between 36 and 55. The NICE guideline can be found at the following link:www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng104

Eating Disorders

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve outpatient waiting times for adults suffering from an eating disorder.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to reducing waiting times for people of all age groups who suffer with an eating disorder. Within the NHS Long Term Plan ambitions, the Clinical Review of NHS Access Standards aims to “test four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas”. This will form part of wider testing of the new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care.The recently-published ‘Guidance for operational and activity plans: assurance statements’, to accompany the NHS Planning Guidance for 2019/20, makes clear that these new models will include services for adults with eating disorders.In 2019-20, NHS England will begin funding a number of pilot sites for these new models across the country, including services for adults with eating disorders. Selected sites will work towards maximising access and minimising waits to improve patient care. Sites will be selected within regions over the coming months and will be given pump prime funding.In parallel to this, NHS England is rolling out the New Care Models in Mental Health programme, delegating specialised commissioning budgets for adult eating disorder inpatient services to provider collaboratives. These collaboratives will have the power to transform pathways of care and maximise access to dedicated community-based provision to avoid need for admissions as far as possible, building on the success of pilot sites where this work is already underway.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing personal social care that is free at the point of need for everyone over the age of 65.

Caroline Dinenage: As people live longer than ever before, sometimes with complex care needs, we need to ensure the social care system is sustainable in the longer term. The Government has committed to publishing a Green Paper setting out its proposals for reform and will bring forward ideas for including an element of risk pooling in the system, which will help to protect people from the highest costs. As part of this, the Department will be considering a wide range of available options.This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to the care and support they need, but we are clear that there should continue to be a principle of shared responsibility, and that people should continue to expect to contribute to their care as part of preparing for later life.The Green Paper remains a priority for this Government and we will be publishing it at the earliest opportunity.

Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the draft regulations and statutory code of practice for the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 1919, which received Royal Assent on 16 May 2019; and what the timeframe is for the public consultation on the regulations and code of practice.

Caroline Dinenage: Now that the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 has received Royal Assent, the Department plans to place a letter in the Library setting out next steps and timeframes. The Department is currently working closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including those with lived experience, on producing the Code of Practice for the Liberty Protection Safeguards. We expect to have the initial outputs of the working groups by this summer.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral contribution of 8 April 2019, Official Report, column 36, what the timetable is for making available a public register of specialist clinicians who can prescribe cannabis-based medicines.

Seema Kennedy: The law provides that specialist clinicians on the General Medical Council’s ‘Specialist Register’ can prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use, where clinically appropriate and in the best interest of patients.A general practitioner (GP) may make a referral to a specialist clinician on the General Medical Council’s ‘Specialist Register’ once the patient reaches the appropriate point in their treatment pathway.A list of Registered Medical Practitioners, including specialist clinicians, is available at the following link:https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/the-medical-register

Diabetes: Mental Health Services

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the NHS establish a pathway of care for (a) emotional and (b) mental health support for people with diabetes.

Seema Kennedy: The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increasing the provision of mental health support for all patients who require it. The importance of addressing the mental health needs of people with diabetes is recognised and further work is underway to consider the most effective routes for supporting this as part of the future development of services. On 21 March 2018, NHS England and NHS Improvement, along with the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, published ‘The Improving Access to Psychotherapy Therapy (IAPT) Pathway for People with Long-term Physical Health Conditions and Medically Unexplained Symptoms’. The guidance outlines the IAPT pathway, and accompanying benchmarks, to support the national expansion of IAPT services for adults with long term conditions and medically unexplained symptoms. In addition, a project working group has been established involving NHS England, Diabetes UK and other stakeholders which aims to develop a care pathway which, when adopted locally, would help improve access to emotional and psychological support for people with diabetes.

Pancreatitis: Research

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, what plans the Government has to allocate funding for research into chronic pancreatitis.

Caroline Dinenage: The NHS Long Term Plan is a 10-year strategy for the National Health Service. It sets out how the NHS will spend the £33.9 billion cash terms annual increase going into the NHS budget by 2023/24. Research on health and social care continues to be funded by the Government through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The future of budgets outside of the NHS England resource settlement will be confirmed later this year at Spending Review 2019.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including chronic pancreatitis. As with other major research funders, the NIHR does not ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications for funding are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. The NIHR’s funding and support for research into chronic pancreatitis which is currently ongoing or recently concluded (in financial year 2018/19) includes one directly funded study, with a total award of £262,500, investigating the use of antioxidants and magnesium for the treatment of pain in hereditary and idiopathic chronic pancreatitis. In addition, there has been NIHR support for two studies through its early translational research infrastructure and five through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network, which provides support for delivering research funded by the NIHR itself and other public, charity and industry research funders.

Influenza: Vaccination

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish data on the uptake of influenza vaccinations by social care workers in 2018-19.

Seema Kennedy: There is no nationally agreed data set or data collection for recording the immunisation of social care workers.

Neurofibromatosis: Children

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to add a body map insert page to the Personal Child Health Record to improve recognition of neurofibromatosis.

Seema Kennedy: The content of the Personal Child Health Record (PCHR) is overseen by a multi-disciplinary group hosted by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). The inclusion of a body map in the paper-based version of the PCHR to help improve recognition of conditions such as neurofibromatosis has previously been discussed.Whilst it is recognised that some areas choose to include a body map in the paper-based version of the PCHR they issue to new parents/carers at a child’s birth, the RCPCH hosted committee rejected a request for it to be included universally. The matter has subsequently been referred to the UK National Screening Committee for further consideration.An electronic version of the PCHR is being piloted and will be further developed. Access to information on neurofibromatosis and other conditions which can be accessed by parents, carers or health professionals will be considered as part of this process.

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2019 to Question 254804, when the National Suicide Prevention Strategy will be published.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Suicide Prevention Strategy was first published in 2012 as the cross-Government outcomes strategy, ‘Preventing Suicide in England’.We have published a number of progress reports since then with the third progress report, published in January 2017, updating the 2012 strategy in a number of areas. The latest progress report was published in January 2019 together with a cross-Government suicide prevention workplan which sets out an ambitious programme across central and local government and delivery agencies to reduce suicide. These documents are available at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/collections/suicide-prevention-resources-and-guidance

Nurses: EU Nationals

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the data published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council on 20 May 2019, what steps his Department is taking to retain nurses that are EU nationals in the NHS.

Stephen Hammond: The Department is clear that all staff that are European Union nationals are valued and should be made to feel welcome in the United Kingdom and working in the National Health Service. To this end the Department has supported employers in promoting the EU Settlement Scheme and piloting the scheme from December 2018 to NHS and social care employees, before it was launched to the wider public in March 2019.It should be noted that the rate of European Economic Area citizens leaving the Nursing and Midwifery Council register decreased by 18.1% between April 2018 and March 2019.

Health Services: Autism and Learning Disability

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the interim report published by the Care Quality Commission, published on 20 May 2019,  whether he will convene an expert group to consider the delivery of best care to people with learning disabilities and autism.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS target to reduce the number of children and young people being held in assessment and treatment units by 50 per cent, by what date he expects that target to be achieved.

Caroline Dinenage: On 21 May 2019, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published its ‘Interim Report: Review of restraint, prolonged seclusion and segregation for people with a mental health problem, a learning disability and or autism.’ The Government has accepted all five of the recommendations in the CQC’s interim report including the recommendation that an expert group, that includes clinicians, people with lived experience and academics, should be convened to consider what would be the key features of a better system of care for this specific group of people (that is those with a learning disability and/or autism whose behaviour is so challenging that they are, or are at risk of, being cared for in segregation). The target in the NHS Long Term Plan is to reduce the number of children with a learning disability, autism or both in a specialist inpatient unit to a level equivalent to no more than 12 to 15 children per one million children in England by 2023-24.

NHS: Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS workforce strategy will priorities the specialist training required for people working with people with complex needs.

Caroline Dinenage: The interim People Plan, published on 3 June 2019, recognises the need to move to a multi-disciplinary model of care, particularly for people with more complex health and care needs, and places general practitioners at the heart of this model.In advance of publishing the final People Plan, NHS England will work to implement the plan set out in Health Education England and NHS Improvement’s report, ‘Maximising the Potential: essential measures to support SAS doctors’, published in February 2019.The aim is to provide further support and flexible training for specialty and associate specialist doctors, and establish a national programme board to address geographical and specialty shortages in medicine. The report can be accessed here:https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/SAS_Report_Web.pdfSkills for Care and Health Education England are working to ensure that the health and social care workforce have the skills and training they need, including when working with people with complex needs.

Dental Health: Children

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the level of child tooth decay was in (a) Birkenhead, (b) Bootle and (c) Crewe in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Seema Kennedy: Data on the level of child tooth decay in five-year-old children are published at upper and lower-tier local authority level and, therefore, are not available in the format requested.Local authority data for 2014/15 and 2016/17 is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oral-health-survey-of-5-year-old-children-2014-to-2015https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/oral-health-survey-of-5-year-old-children-2017

Asthma: Pharmacy

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring that there are asthma specialist pharmacists in all regions.

Seema Kennedy: No recent assessment has been undertaken on this subject.There are currently 14 severe asthma centres in England. All specialist providers are required to develop a networked model of care as the vehicle for delivering an optimal pathway and maximising patient outcomes and experience.It is expected that National Health Service patients with severe asthma are referred to their specialist asthma service by secondary care physicians where they will receive appropriate investigation and treatment.Respiratory disease is a clinical priority within the recently published NHS Long Term Plan. The Plan has the overarching objective of improving outcomes for people with respiratory disease, including asthma.

Asthma: Health Services

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of severe asthma services in (a) England and (b) North Staffordshire.

Seema Kennedy: No recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of provision of severe asthma services in England and North Staffordshire.Respiratory disease is a clinical priority within the recently published NHS Long Term Plan. The Plan has the overarching objective of improving outcomes for people with respiratory disease, including asthma.There are currently 14 severe asthma centres in England. All specialist providers are required to develop a networked model of care as the vehicle for delivering an optimal pathway and maximising patient outcomes and experience.It is expected that National Health Service patients with severe asthma are referred to their specialist asthma service where they will receive appropriate investigation and treatment.The closest specialist centres to North Staffordshire are located in Birmingham and Manchester. Services for patients in Stoke and North Staffordshire with severe asthma are provided by University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. The Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust also supports asthma patients.

Steroid Drugs: Side Effects

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) health risks and (b) psychiatric side effects of oral corticosteroid treatments.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Oral corticosteroids have been used for many years in the treatment of a wide range of illnesses including allergic and inflammatory diseases, immune reactions and certain cancers, and for replacement therapy where the body does not produce enough cortisol.Corticosteroids are life-saving medicines but have a wide range of side effects, including psychiatric side effects. These can include serious effects such as suicidal thoughts, psychotic reactions and behavioural disturbances. Symptoms typically emerge within a few days or weeks of starting the treatment. Patients and/or their carers should be warned by the prescribing physician that potentially severe psychiatric adverse reactions may occur with oral corticosteroids and encouraged to seek medical advice if any worrying psychological symptoms develop.Other side effects of corticosteroids, particularly when taken long-term, include increased susceptibility to infection, disturbances of the nervous system, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, suppression of the adrenal glands, stomach ulcers and changes to the eye (glaucoma and cataract).A detailed list of the side effects known to occur with corticosteroids is available in the product information for prescribers (the Summary of Product Characteristics and Patient Information Leaflet which are produced by the manufacturer and authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for each product. Key side effects are also detailed in the British National Formulary. As with all medicines, the safety of corticosteroids is kept under review by the MHRA and product information is updated and warnings issued when necessary.

Mental Health Services: Regulation

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide an update on progress towards recommendation 54 in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health on introducing the regulation of psychological therapy services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Recommendation 54 in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health states that this Department should consider how to introduce the regulation of psychological therapy services, which are not currently inspected unless they are provided within secondary mental health services.The Government has accepted all of the recommendations in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, including Recommendation 54. We are currently considering how to implement this recommendation.

Whorlton Hall Hospital

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average weekly fee per patient charged to the NHS was for the provision of care by Cygnet at Whorlton Hall.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Electoral Commission: Complaints

Catherine West: To ask the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how many complaints were lodged with the Electoral Commission in (a) March 2019, (b) April 2019 and (c) May 2019.

Bridget Phillipson: The Commission receives a broad range of public enquiries through a number of routes; these are formally classified as complaints where they seek to challenge the Commission’s own conduct, procedures or decision-making, where statutory routes of appeal do not exist.Five complaints were logged in March; none in April; and 726 in May. The steep increase in May relates primarily to a coordinated correspondence campaign, on the issue of the difficulties in registering to vote, and in voting, experienced by Non-UK citizens of EU Member States at the European Parliamentary elections.

Department for Work and Pensions

Food Banks

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timescale is for her Department to publish the findings of the study it commissioned on the links between Government policy and demand on food banks.

Will Quince: We are currently carrying out a literature review on the factors driving the use of food banks which will be published in due course.

Universal Credit: Overpayments

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit overpayments have not been pursued on the grounds of hardship.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases involving universal credit overpayments have been pursued subsequent to an appeal on the grounds of hardship.

Alok Sharma: In 2018/19, 16,260 successful applications for a reduction in their repayment rate were made by claimants or their representatives.In 2018/19, 10 overpayments were waived, either in full or in part, as a result of applications made by claimants or their representatives. In the same period, 20 applications were unsuccessful.The Department has an obligation to ensure that public funds are administered responsibly and to abide by the principles set out in Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on Managing Public Money (which can be found on gov.uk). Waivers are only granted in limited circumstances including where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial financial and/or medical hardship and clear supporting evidence of this is provided.Rather than waiving benefit overpayments, the Department works to support claimants through the recovery of these overpayments.If a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment, they can request a review of the amount that is being taken. Any adjustment to the rate of repayment will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant.*All figures in this response have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They should therefore not be compared to any similar figures subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Children: Maintenance

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of subject access requests made to the Child Maintenance Service were responded to within the correct timescale since the General Data Protection Regulation came into force;  and what steps she is taken to reduce the level of the backlog of those requests.

Will Quince: Data is not available to show the number of Right of Access requests that included a request for Child Maintenance Group records prior to 5/11/2018.Therefore, the following information shows the number Right of Access Requests that included a request for Child Maintenance Group records from 5/11/2018CMG RECORDS REQUESTS COMPLETEDFor the period 5/11/2018 to 21/5/2019: Number of Right of Access Requests where the CMG records have been supplied (regardless of the other records that were requested within the RAR) within statutory deadline113066.9% Regarding the current workload we have the following measures in place:We have secured an additional resource to support existing colleaguesAs a contingency we have cross skilled staff that we can utilise if required

Funeral Payments

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many funeral expenses payment awards were made in 2018-19; and (ii) what the value of those payments was.

Will Quince: The number and gross expenditure of Funeral Expenses Payment awards, in Great Britain, is reported annually in Appendix 1 of the Social Fund Annual Report:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-fund-annual-report-2017-to-2018The information requested for 2018/19 will be published in due course, and so cannot be released ahead of publication.

Funerals: Pre-payment

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number of pre-paid funeral plans that have been taken out since 2010.

Will Quince: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Support for Mortgage Interest

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people with a support for mortgage interest loan (SMI) who need to move house but are unable to do so due to having an SMI loan secured on their property.

Will Quince: Owner-occupiers possess a valuable capital asset which may increase in value over time. It is reasonable to ask claimants who receive help towards the costs of this asset to repay that when they are able to. Most SMI claimants already have significant equity accrued upon take-up of an SMI loan and those with an SMI loan secured against their property are likely to continue accruing value beyond the repayment of an SMI loan, facilitating a move if necessary.

Local Housing Allowance: Bristol

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of local housing allowance compared with the cost of rented accommodation in Bristol.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of rental accommodation is affordable to those receiving the maximum rate of local housing allowance in (a) Bristol and (b) the South West.

Will Quince: No assessment has been made of the adequacy of the level of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) compared with the cost of rented accommodation in Bristol. The proportion of private market rents that are at or below the LHA rate are set out below. This is based on:2019/20 LHA rates published here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-lha-rates-applicable-from-april-2019-to-march-2020Valuation Office Agency data https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-list-of-rents.  Shared accommodation1 bedroom2 bedrooms3 bedrooms4 bedroomsBristol8%7%5%7%10%South West12%14%13%12%15% Note: South West figures calculated as the average for the following Broad Rental Market Areas: Kernow West, North Cornwall & Devon Borders, Plymouth, South Devon, Exeter, North Devon, Mid & East Devon, Mid & West Dorset, Taunton & West Somerset, Yeovil, Weston-S-Mare, Mendip, Bath, Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham, West Wiltshire, Swindon, Salisbury and Bournemouth.

Working Links

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 254799, what steps his Department has taken to minimise the effect on the Working Links supply chain partners owed monies by that company at the point of administration for social enterprises and the third sector.

Will Quince: All Working Links subcontractors delivering DWP services were issued a letter from the Department providing them with details of the Administrator advising direct contact should there be monies owed to them by Working Links. The Department has met all of its obligations in regard to the contracts, including payments, leading up to and as a consequence of the administration. The Department considered the impact on stakeholders and sub-contractors, based on the Administrator’s statement of affairs at the point of Working Links going into administration, and has worked with both the Administrator and Fedcap, who have taken over a number of Working Links contracts, to minimise the impact on those supply chain partners owed monies by Working Links at the point of administration.

Working Links

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 254799, what steps his Department has taken to meet its Commercial Strategy objective to create a more competitive, agile, diverse and innovative supply base in relation to Working Links sub-contractors still owed money for services delivered.

Will Quince: DWP commercial policy is to advertise opportunities early and to engage with all appropriate sectors of the market, through pre-procurement market engagement events, to encourage wide participation and create the best competitive environment.All Working Links subcontractors delivering Departmental services have been issued a letter from the Department advising them to contact the Administrator should there be monies owed to them by Working Links.

Working Links

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 254799, what steps his Department has taken to meet its Commercial Strategy objective on strengthening commercial management of key suppliers, managing performance, relationships and risks in relation to Working Links sub-contractors still owed money for services delivered.

Will Quince: DWP is currently implementing two change programmes – the Contract Management Capability Programme and Strategic Supplier Relationship Management - to support further improvements in commercial and contract management capability across the department.DWP continues to use the Merlin service to provide assurance of suppliers and supply chains in the Employment and Health Categories.All Working Links subcontractors delivering Departmental services have been issued a letter from the Department advising them to contact the Administrator should there be monies owed to them by Working Links.

Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department uses to assess whether people are (a) destitute and (b) living in destitution.

Will Quince: There is no official definition of destitution. The Department for Work and Pensions annually publishes Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics, based on the Family Resources Survey, which sets out four official measures of relative and absolute low income before and after housing costs. The closest measure in HBAI to a measure of destitution is the number of children in “severe low income” (50% of median before housing costs). HBAI also provides measures of material deprivation based on questions to parents and pensioners about their ability to afford the basics in life such as heating homes and paying bills. In addition, new questions have been added to the Family Resources Survey to develop a food insecurity measure from 2021.New experimental statistics to measure poverty will be developed, and published by DWP in 2020. The new analysis will be based on the work undertaken by the Social Metrics Commission (SMC) which was presented in the SMC’s ‘A New Measure of Poverty’ report last year.

Working Links

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what due diligence her Department carried out in relation to Brian Bell, Chief Executive Officer of Fedcap Employment prior to that company taking over her Department's Working Links contract.

Will Quince: The DWP Employment Category team undertake due diligence on companies in or entering the UK employment provision market. We do not undertake due diligence on individual employees of companies, although our processes seeks to ensure that persons are not disqualified to act as a Director. Our understanding is that Mr Brian Bell is not a Director, according to Companies House and therefore his ability to undertake a role in Fedcap is a matter for that Company.

Independent Assessment Services

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2019 to Question 256361 on Independent Assessment Services, whether reports classified as acceptable with feedback provide non-prescriptive amendments to the health professional.

Justin Tomlinson: An “acceptable with feedback” grade results in feedback being given to the Health Professional, but does not require an amendment to the assessment report.

Child Maintenance Service

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many deduction of earning requests made by the Child Maintenance Service have been declined by the (a) MoD Defence Council and (b) Authorised Officer; and if she will publish the reasons for those requests being declined.

Will Quince: Child Maintenance Service do not record this data as there is no facility on the Child Maintenance System to record instances when a Deduction from Earning Request has been rejected by MoD.

Child Maintenance Service

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on children of a Child Maintenance Service deduction of earning requests being declined by the Ministry of Defence Council or an authorised officer.

Will Quince: The Child Maintenance Group has a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Defence that supports the operation of Deduction from Earnings Requests. However, the final decision on whether to implement the deduction from earnings request and at what rate ultimately rests with HM Paymaster. Where we are unable to deduct child maintenance directly from salaries, we will look to enforce payment directly from a paying parent’s bank account.Where a paying parent fails to pay on time or in full, the Child Maintenance Service has a wide range of strong enforcement powers including deduction from earnings orders, order for sale, removing non-paying parent's driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.We introduced new powers in December 2018 which allow the Child Maintenance Service to deduct child maintenance directly from a wider range of accounts, including joint and business accounts, and enable it to target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on assets.

Poverty: Children

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to reduce the number of children living in poverty in London.

Will Quince: This Government is committed to a sustainable solution to poverty so that we improve children’s long-term outcomes. This means a strong economy and a benefit system that supports employment and higher pay. Children in households where all adults are working are around 5 times less likely to be in poverty than those in workless households. Compared to 2010, there are 1 million fewer workless households and 665,000 fewer children in workless households.

Children: Maintenance

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the 1,193,200 cases with no current liability from the 1993 and 2003 Child Maintenance Schemes that there were at March 2012 have been written-off by the Child Support Agency.

Will Quince: The information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Information on cases written off since 13th December 2018, when the write off process began, will be published in June 2019 (number of cases) and September 2019 (amounts). Information on the planned changes to the Child Support Agency Quarterly Statistical Summary to incorporate this information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-statistics-publication-strategy

Children: Maintenance

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases with no current liability where no money has flowed in the last quarter have been transferred from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service since March 2012.

Will Quince: Since June 2014, when the Case Closure process began, there have been 222,300 cases transition from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service. This information can be found on table 8 of the Child Support Agency Case Closure Statistics. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-case-closure-statistics-june-2014-to-december-2018Information on whether money has flowed on these cases in the last quarter is not readily available.

Home Office

Vetting

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of the length of time taken for a DBS check has on prospective employees.

Victoria Atkins: The Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) key performance indicators are set each year with the agreement of the Home Office. As the sponsoring department, the Home Office monitors timeliness performance throughout the year. The key performance indicators for the DBS in 2018/19 can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-business-plan-2018-2019For 19/20, the DBS have introduced new stretching Key Performance indicators including targets for 96% of Basic Certificates, 96% of Standard and 77% of Enhanced Certificates to be issued in 14 calendar days.

Refugees

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2019 to Question 246569 on Refugees, what plans his Department has to support local authorities prior to an announcement on the future of UK resettlement in maintaining their current capacity to resettle refugees.

Caroline Nokes: The Department continues to engage with local authorities through Strategic Migration Partnerships and through our network of resettlement contact officers. We plan to keep the channels of communication open through established stakeholder fora as our future Asylum and Resettlement Strategy develops, including consideration of the UK’s resettlement offer, beyond 2020.

Slavery: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of child victims of modern slavery living in the UK.

Victoria Atkins: The most robust estimate we have of the scale of modern slavery in the UK was produced by the Home Office in 2014. This estimated that there were between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of modern slavery in the UK in 2013. This estimate does not break down into adult and child cases of modern slavery.In the 2018 UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery the National Crime Agency assessed that the actual scale of modern slavery in the UK is gradually increasing and, if drivers remain at their current levels, will continue to do so over the next three years. The Annual Report is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach-ment_data/file/749346/2018_UK_Annual_Report_on_Modern_Slavery.pdfLatest statistics for 2018 on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism and decisions are available at the link below. These statistics do provide a breakdown between adult and child cases of modern slavery.http://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics/2018-nrm-statistics

Immigration: Enforcement

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people where subject to immigration enforcement action in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not the hold the specific information requested in a reportable format. The department undertakes a wide range of enforcement action. This action includes application of sanctions against individuals and employers, prosecution of foreign national criminals, the disruption of serious and organised crime as well as our work to encourage and enforce the return of those who have no legal right to stay in the UK. The department does publish information on returns. Published returns figures only include those who have been removed not all of those who were subject to immigration enforcement action.The Home Office publishes the number of returns from the UK, by year in table rt_01 (returns data tables, volume 1) in ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending March 2019’, available from the GOV.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803173/returns1-mar-2019-tables.ods.Further information about Immigration Enforcement activity is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-may-2019As detailed at paragraph 5 in the published information linked above; The Home Office is proposing to review the enforcement data that it publishes in order to ensure it provides a comprehensive overview of the detention and returns system. This will involve a consultation in 2019, where it will invite public views on its proposals.

Treasury

Funerals: Pre-payment

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with representatives from the Competition and Market Authority on ensuring that the (a) delivery (b) marketing and (c) sale of funeral plans are included in the scope of the investigation into the funeral market.

John Glen: In June 2018, the CMA launched a market study into the funeral sector. The CMA investigated two core areas in connection to the supply of a funeral: (1) how competition between funeral directors works and transparency issues in the provision of funerals; and (2) how competition works in the crematoria segment of the industry. In light of the findings of the market study, the CMA launched a full market investigation into the funeral sector. The scope of the CMA’s market investigation includes the funeral services supplied by funeral directors arising from the redemption of funeral plans. HM Treasury launched a call for evidence on the regulation of pre-paid funeral plans in June 2018. The call for evidence has confirmed that consumer detriment is present in the pre-paid funeral plan sector and that there is broad demand for the sector to come under compulsory regulation. Consequently, the government intends to bring the pre-paid funeral plan market within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority and is currently consulting on the proposed legislative framework to implement this proposal. My officials have engaged with the CMA to ensure the respective investigations are complementary and coherent.

Employment Agencies: Tax Avoidance

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the schemes that have been disclosed under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme involve the activities of recruitment agencies.

Jesse Norman: The Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS) regime does not expressly require disclosers to tell HMRC whether a scheme involves a recruitment agency. HMRC reviews all disclosures under DOTAS and challenges schemes as appropriate as part of its risk based compliance strategy.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Ruth George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 249940, whether the tax credit debt written off in 2011-12 as part of the Older Inactive Debts Policy was included in the figure for pre-2011-12 debt.

Elizabeth Truss: The tax credit debt written off in 2011-12 as part of the Older Inactive Debts Policy is not included in the pre-2011-12 debt figure of 16% provided in the Answer of 8 May 2019 to Question 249940.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Ruth George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many claimants have disputed a recovery of tax credit overpayment using (a) form TC846 and (b) another means of raising a dispute in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: HMRC does not record data on the breakdown of the source of the receipt (TC846, paper, iform, other) so the information requested is not available.

Public Expenditure

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what date has been set for the conclusion of the next spending review.

Elizabeth Truss: As the Chancellor announced at Spring Statement, if a deal with the EU is agreed, the 2019 Spending Review will conclude alongside an Autumn Budget.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Ruth George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of disputes of tax credit overpayments have (a) been written off and not collected, (b) been reduced and (c) proceeded to collection in full in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: HMRC does not record data broken down to this level of detail so the information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Football Pools: Excise Duties

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2019 to Question 220074 on Football Pools: Excise Duties, what evidence his Department has to make an assessment of the effect of product switching if pools betting duty were to be reduced to 10 per cent.

Robert Jenrick: Pool Betting Duty extends beyond the Football Pools to bets made not at fixed odds (other than horse or dog racing). This means that a range of products are currently subject to the Duty and there is potential for products to be developed in future to come within its scope in order to benefit from a lower rate.

Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of free-to-use ATMs that have been converted to pay-to-use machines in each of the last five years.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that everyone has access to free-to-use ATMs.

John Glen: The Government believes that widespread access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses. That is why the Government continues to engage with the regulators and industry in this area. In 2015, the Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users. As a result, the PSR is closely monitoring developments within ATM provision, and has used its powers to ensure LINK meets its commitment on maintaining the broad geographical spread of free-to-use ATMs. The Treasury has not made an estimate of the number of free-to-use ATMS that have been converted to pay-to-use in each of the last five years. Detailed statistical data on the number of free-to-use and pay-to-use ATMs since 1998 is publicly available on the LINK website.

Customs

Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans HMRC has to establish additional customs inspection facilities in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal;  and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government is focused on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible. In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, HMRC’s plans allow for the border to operate without significant new infrastructure on Day One. The Government has been working to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for over two years. HMRC has engaged with ports and operators on how to meet the demands for increased border checks and processes following the UK’s exit from the EU. The Government will work with partners to ensure additional infrastructure is provided where needed to accommodate demand.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Fair4All Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has in place to ensure that the Fair4All Finance scheme is able to operate effectively with existing credit unions.

Mims Davies: Fair4All Finance launched earlier this year with the ambition to increase access to fair, affordable and appropriate financial products and services for vulnerable customers, with a particular focus on access to affordable credit. Fair4All Finance is an independent organisation. It has in place a highly experienced Chair, and will appoint a similarly high calibre board. This group, along with the organisation’s executive, will determine the organisation’s strategy, including which partnerships will help it to be most effective in supporting the financial inclusion of low income consumers.

Telecommunications: Infrastructure

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the final report of the cross-Government review that his Department is leading into the supply chain arrangements for UK telecoms infrastructure will be made publicly available.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his timescale is for publication of the telecoms supply chain review.

Margot James: A statement will be made to the House to communicate the decision at the appropriate time.

Mobile Phones: Cybercrime

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with phone companies on potential cyber attacks on mobile phone devices.

Margot James: The security and resilience of the UK's telecoms networks is of paramount importance. The UK government works with telecoms companies to manage cyber security risks while ensuring the UK can continue to benefit from new technology. Ministers and officials have regular discussions with mobile phone companies on a range of matters, including covering potential cyber attacks. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) provides simple advice and guidance to help individuals and organisations be more resilient to cyber attacks. In addition, The Government advocates for strong security to be built into internet-connected products via the secure by design programme.

Journalism: Pay

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what  his Department’s policy in on the practice of payment on publication in the journalism industry.

Margot James: Payment on publication is one aspect of contractual agreements between journalists and publishers and as such is not something in which the government would seek to intervene.

Third Sector: Finance

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how the Government plans to allocate the £2 billion of dormant assets identified by the Dormant Assets Commission in March 2019 throughout the charity and voluntary sector; and if the Government will allocate those assets to the establishment of a community wealth fund.

Mims Davies: Following the independent Dormant Assets Commission’s report and findings, an industry blueprint for expanding the scheme was published in April 2019, setting out a long-term plan for how additional dormant assets could be included. We are working proactively with industry partners to enable this expansion that could see hundreds of millions of additional funds being released to good causes. Under the current legislation, this money can only be used to fund initiatives relating to youth, financial inclusion or via a social investment wholesaler. We are proud of our impact to date in these areas, which has created more than 26,000 jobs and training opportunities and helped more than 2,000 vulnerable individuals into suitable housing.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Regeneration: Grimsby

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to start the implementation of phase one of the Greater Grimsby Town Deal, and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 04 June 2019



The ground-breaking Greater Grimsby Town Deal was launched on 5 July 2018 beginning a stronger relationship between central government and local partners. The Town Deal meets a commitment to pilot a new approach to driving growth in our towns and was included in the Industrial Strategy, our long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries, and infrastructure, as well as ensuring our places realise their full potential. The Town Deal is focused on four inter-related themes, namely: driving economic growthaccelerating housing deliverytransforming Grimsby’s waterfrontimproving skills and educational attainment. The Government has been working intensively with North East Lincolnshire Council, the Project Board, and the private sector on implementation since the launch of the Town Deal and there has been considerable progress. We have continued to support delivery of the Grimsby Heritage Action Zone and, in January 2019, announced a further £3.2m investment in heritage, culture and creative industries as a catalyst for economic growth in Grimsby through DCMS’s Cultural Development Fund. We are delivering in skills too. The Department for Education announced that the University of Lincoln-led Institute of Technology (IoT) proposal was one of 12 successful IoT proposals that will be established across the country. The IoT will operate across Lincolnshire, including Grimsby, and will be a key plank of the Town Deal. Progress continues to be made on implementation of the South Humber Industrial Investment Programme including starting important infrastructure works to get these strategic economic sites ready for market, including the Humber Link Road and highways improvements to Moody Lane. We have also been working closely with the Council and other partners to support regeneration of Grimsby’s town centre and reconnecting it with its waterfront and we hope to be saying more about this in the near future.

Research Fund for Coal and Steel

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the economic effect on the UK steel sector of losing access to the Research Fund for Coal and Steel as a result of the UK leaving the EU; and what steps he is taking support that sector.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government recognises the importance of R&D to help transform the steel sector so it can play a vital role within our modern Industrial Strategy. Increasing investment in R&D was one of the key recommendations in our 2017 Future capacities and capabilities of the UK steel industry study (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-steel-industry-future-market-opportunities), which sets out how the industry can increase its profitability and sustainability.The Government’s priority remains ensuring that the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified. This would ensure that UK entities’ right to participate in the Research Fund for Coal and Steel – including bidding for funding – would be unaffected until the end of 2020.We are considering options for supporting R&D in steel beyond 2020 and will continue to work with the sector, unions and Devolved Administrations to develop a viable long-term solution. The Government will decide on science and innovation expenditure, including on R&D for steel, in the next Spending Review.

Shares: Sales

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of recent trends in the use of share buybacks.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on the research into share buybacks initiated in January 2018.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department has noted several significant share buyback announcements in recent months. These can be undertaken for a variety of reasons such as providing a flexible tool for returning excess cash to shareholders and offsetting dilution arising from the issue of new shares such as those issued to employees under employee share ownership schemes. Buyback activity tends to fluctuate, responding to company-specific and wider economic conditions such as the interest rate environment. The Department commissioned research to further its understanding of longer-term trends in share buybacks, how and why companies make use of them and whether they are being misused to hit performance targets and inflate executive pay. The Department is currently considering this research and will be making an announcement in due course.

National Federation of SubPostmasters

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many sub-postmasters use services provided by NFSP Ltd.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The number of postmasters accessing NFSP services is an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254194, how many of the 175 high-rise private sector residential buildings identified with aluminium composite cladding are owned by developers who have agreed not to draw on the fund.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 04 June 2019



A number of developers and freeholders have already agreed to fund the costs of remediation and not pass these on to leaseholders. Following the announcement of the fund many of these have agreed to maintain their commitment. The owners or developers who have made these commitments include Taylor Wimpey, Legal and General, Mace Group, Lendlease, Barratt Developments and Aberdeen Standard Investments. We are continuing to engage with other buildings owners to secure further commitments to fund remediation without accessing the Government’s remediation fund.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) determinations and (b) appeals were made prior to 14 June 2017 under the Building Act 1984 on the meaning of filler material as defined in Government guidance entitled Fire safety: Approved Document Part B Volume 2, published in 2006, 2010, 2013, paragraph 12.7.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 04 June 2019



I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 23 May to Question UIN 256354.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254194 on High Rise Flats: Insulation, whether the funding announced in his Department's press release of 9 May 2019, Government to fund and speed up vital cladding replacement, will be sufficient for the remediation of all the high-rise private sector residential buildings identified with aluminium composite material cladding.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 04 June 2019



On 9 May, The Government announced its commitment to fully fund the remediation of private sector high-rise residential blocks with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, except where a warranty claim is accepted. The fund will cover reasonable costs associated with the removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding systems on all eligible buildings. We will publish the full fund application guidance including eligibility and evidence criteria by mid-July and we expect that the formal application process will begin by late Summer.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Housing on 23 January 2019, Official Report column 311 on fire safety and cladding, by which format the expert panel have regularly considered the risks of non-ACM material and the action that his Department should take.

Kit Malthouse: The Independent Expert Advisory Panel has been meeting frequently and regularly to consider the risks posed by non-ACM materials, which have come to light both through MHCLG research and discussions with industry and building owners.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households affected by the Grenfell Tower fire require rehousing; and how many of those households are in (a) emergency, (b) temporary and (c) permanent accommodation.

James Brokenshire: As of 23 May 2019, the latest data from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea shows that there are 201 households that require rehousing as a result of the Grenfell fire. Of these 201 households, 3 households are currently in emergency accommodation (1 in a hotel and 2 in serviced apartments); 14 households are in temporary accommodation; and 184 have moved into permanent homes.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households in (a) Barandon Walk, (b) Testerton Walk, (c) Hurstway Walk, (d) Treadgold House and (e) Bramley House required rehousing as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire; and how many of those households have been rehoused in (i) emergency accommodation, (ii) temporary accommodation and (iii) permanent accommodation.

James Brokenshire: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) tenants from Barandon Walk, Testerton Walk, Hurstway Walk, Treadgold House and Bramley House who do not feel able to remain in their homes are eligible to be rehoused under RBKC’s Wider Grenfell Rehousing Policy.As of 23 May 2019 there are a total of 129 households who are eligible under the Wider Grenfell Rehousing Policy. Of these 129 households, there are no households that remain in emergency accommodation. 24 households have moved into new permanent homes, and 41 households are currently living in temporary accommodation, whilst awaiting a permanent home through the Council’s Housing Register. 64 households have returned to their home on the Lancaster West Estate.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of the starter homes land fund that has been spent.

James Brokenshire: As submitted to this House in May 2018, £250 million of the Starter Homes Land Fund has been spent to date. No further spending has occurred since this statement was made. Sites purchased through this fund are being used by Homes England to deliver more homes, including affordable homes.The remaining funds initially allocated to the Starter Homes Land Fund have been used to support other Homes England programmes to increase the supply of homes, including affordable homes.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many starter homes have been (a) started and (b) completed.

James Brokenshire: As the secondary legislation required for the delivery of starter homes is not yet in place, no starter homes have been built. We intend to lay the regulations before Parliament in due course.While we develop these regulations the Government continues to focus on restoring the dream of home ownership to the hard working people who are struggling to get on the housing ladder. Since 2010, Government-backed schemes have helped over 540,000 households to buy a home and the number of first-time buyers is at the highest rate for 11 years.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to lay before Parliament the secondary legislation to enable the delivery of starter homes.

James Brokenshire: We have been working with stakeholders on the detail of the regulations required to deliver starter homes to ensure they work effectively. We intend to lay the regulations before the House later this year.While we develop these regulations the Government continues to focus on restoring the dream of home ownership to hard working people who are struggling to get on the housing ladder. Since 2010, Government-backed schemes have helped over 540,000 households to buy a home and the number of first-time buyers is at the highest rate for 11 years.

Housing Estates: Playgrounds

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of housing estate developments built in the last five years have outdoor children's play areas.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold the information requested.

Council Tax: Students

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to made an assessment of the potential merits of revising the Council Tax Formula Grant to allow compensation for student discounts in respect of Parish and Town Councils.

Rishi Sunak: The majority of funding for Parish and Town Councils is provided through a precept on council tax bills and the Government has no plans to change that arrangement. The precept is calculated based on the Parish or Town Council's assessment of income and expenditure for the following financial year. The funding settlement for principal local authorities takes account of income foregone due to mandatory council tax discounts, including that for full time students.

Oxford-Cambridge Arc

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 255385 on Oxford-Cambridge Arc, how many of those working within his Department on the Oxford-Cambridge Arc plans are working specifically on housing.

Kit Malthouse: Of the 35 full time equivalent number of civil servants developing policy on the Oxford to Cambridge Arc, the full time equivalent working on housing at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and its non-departmental public bodies is 9.

Stronger Towns Fund: Yorkshire and the Humber

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when areas in Yorkshire and Humber will be notified of their award from the £197 million Stronger Town Fund; and when they will receive that award.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether metro mayors are eligible for awards from both the competitive and non-competitive elements of the Stronger Towns Fund.

Jake Berry: During his announcement in the House on 4 March the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed he would outline further detail on the operation and allocation of the Stronger Towns Fund in due course.

Public Sector: Land

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department uses to monitor progress against the Government's target of releasing surplus public sector land for at least 160,000 homes.

Kit Malthouse: The Public Land for Housing Programme Handbook (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-land-for-housing-programme-2015-to-2020-handbook) sets out the approach for monitoring the progress of the release of land. In order for a site to contribute to the 160,000 homes target it must provide evidence against the following criteria:1. A conditional contract, development agreement or building licence with a private sector partner, housing association/registered provider or local authority (for the purpose of house building) is signed or freehold transfer takes place (whichever is sooner) and;2. There is planning certainty that the site will be developed for housing.

Domestic Abuse: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the Barnett Consequentials for Wales of the new support for domestic abuse survivors, announced on 13 May 2019.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: On 13 May 2019, we launched a consultation on support for victims of domestic abuse in safe accommodation. This includes proposals for a statutory duty on local authorities in England to provide support. This consultation will help determine the level of funding required to support the new statutory duty. We estimate an early broad annual cost of around £90 million which the Secretary of State communicated to the House of Commons on the 13 May. The full costs will be informed by the consultation and taken into the Spending Review. We will consider any increase in funding for Devolved Administrations under the Barnett methodology once decisions have been taken on how to operate and fund the new duty.My officials have discussed proposals for a duty with colleagues in the Welsh Government and will continue to work closely with them.

Temporary Accommodation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of demand for temporary accommodation on local authorities.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: This Government is clear that one person without a home is one too many and we are committed to preventing and reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head.We have put in place an ambitious programme of work to support households out of Temporary Accommodation. The Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force in April 2018, bolsters the support offer for families and individuals by ensuring that there are more opportunities for local authorities to put in place bespoke interventions to either prevent homelessness from happening in the first place, or relieve them from a homelessness crisis where it does occur.We have also put in place targeted funding streams focused on reducing the number of households in Temporary Accommodation as part of our £1.2 billion spending programme. For example, earlier this year, we announced £19.5 million for 54 projects through the Private Rented Sector Access Fund that will enable thousands of households to be supported away from Temporary Accommodation and into long term Private Rented accommodation.We have also committed £37.8 million of funding to launch Capital Letters, a collaboration between London boroughs which will enable them to become more efficient in securing accommodation within London, reduce the cost to local authorities of procuring accommodation and enable them to place households closer to home.

Affordable Housing: Construction

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on ensuring that former (a) MoD and (b) other suitable land is developed to provide affordable social housing in areas of need.

Kit Malthouse: By the end of March 2018, over 40,000 homes had been brought to market on former central government land, of which over 11,500 homes are on former MoD sites.Land released via the Public Land for Housing Programme is subject to the requirements of Affordable Housing policies of each Local Planning Authority (LPA).

Affordable Housing: Construction

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his written statement of 26 June 2018 on Affordable Housing, Official Report, WS797, what progress his Department has been made on delivering (a) 23,000 new affordable homes and (b) a new generation of council houses; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: Our £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme is on track to deliver 250,000 homes by March 2022. This includes the 23,000 affordable homes, of which at least 12,500 will be social rent homes in areas of high affordability pressure, announced in June 2018.Since the announcement, we have abolished the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap, freeing up councils to double delivery to around 10,000 new homes a year by 2021/22, and have confirmed a longer-term rent deal for 5 years from 2020 that will provide councils with a stable investment environment to deliver new homes.

Buildings: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will set out what tests his Department is sponsoring on non-ACM cladding; and when the results of those tests will be published.

James Brokenshire: I refer the Rt Hon Member to my written ministerial statement HCWS1533 made on 1 May 2019. In addition, the Department has commissioned a large scale BS 8414 test of a complete wall system which includes a high pressure laminate panel.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 9 May 2019, Official Report column 687, whether the policy and funding measures announced for residential tower blocks clad in ACM cladding will also apply to any blocks with non-ACM cladding found to be non-compliant with building regulations.

James Brokenshire: The fund will cover reasonable costs associated with the removal and replacement of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems. This replicates the scope of the social sector fund that has been operational since last year. Non ACM cladding systems or other structural works not directly related to the remediation of ACM cladding systems will not be part of the fund. Government intervention to provide funding for the removal of unsafe ACM cladding is wholly exceptional. It is based on the unparalleled fire risk ACM poses and very real public safety concerns.

Business Premises: Change of Use

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 254216 on Business Premises: Change of Use, how many breaches of building regulations resulted in enforcement actions for houses converted under permitted development rights.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not collect information about enforcement activity. Compliance with Building Regulations’ requirements will be checked by the relevant building control body. They may require changes to the building work to be made by the person responsible for the work, to ensure compliance without the need for formal enforcement action.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Loneliness

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the prevalence of social isolation and loneliness in the armed forces community.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether her Department plans to respond to the recommendations made by the Royal British Legion in their report entitled Loneliness and social isolation in the armed forces community.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) values the work of the Royal British Legion (RBL) and its report "Loneliness and Social Isolation in the Armed Forces Community". Officials have engaged with the RBL on the recommendations of this report which is assisting us shape our work on the Strategy for our Veterans and the development of a new transition policy to better prepare our Service leavers for life after leaving the Armed Forces. This includes work on developing resilience for the future and identifying those who may need additional help.The MOD continues to engage with the Service Families Federations and is actively engaged with the welfare and issues of families in isolated locations. A question on loneliness has been introduced into the annual Families Continuous Attitude Survey. This will give the Department a better understanding of the prevalence of loneliness, and whether there are any factors associated with the risk of loneliness. The data will also contribute to cross-Government understanding of the prevalence of loneliness across society.

Iran: International Military Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date IMS Ltd., a Government owned company, closed its office in Tehran.

Stuart Andrew: We do not hold a precise date, but IMS ceased trading in 1991.

Ministry of Defence: International Military Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date the last official from his Department ended their secondment to IMS Ltd, a wholly owned government company.

Stuart Andrew: Prior to the introduction of an electronic based HR system in 2006, departmental records on the detail of secondments were paper based. To identify anyone seconded to IMS would involve searching thousands of records and therefore the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. IMS Ltd records do not show any secondees from the Ministry of Defence.

Admiralty Holdings

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the remit is of Admiralty Holdings Ltd and its eight subsidiaries; and what that company's relationship is with her Department.

Stuart Andrew: To maximise its commercial opportunities and provide it with services in support of effective delivery of its core business, the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) established some subsidiary companies that operated at arm's length from UKHO on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence. Any such companies were wholly-owned by the Defence Secretary and came under the umbrella of Admiralty Holdings Limited (AHL). Their scope and number varied from time to time according to the opportunities that presented themselves and any changes requiring approval from the owner. AHL was operated on the owner's behalf by UKHO. All companies are currently dormant are therefore no longer active.

There But Not There: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding from the public purse her Department has allocated to the charity, There But Not There.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department takes to assess the effectiveness of grants awarded to There But Not There.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The sum of £1,255,365 was spent on the Armistice and Armed Forces Communities programme awarded by the independent, LIBOR-funded Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. The awards funded the purchase from There But Not There of silhouettes of First World War soldiers. A full list of community groups that received awards is published at:https://www.covenantfund.org.uk/armistice-and-armed-forces-communities-programme-awards/The purchased silhouettes of First World War soldiers are the property of the community groups, and they will be able to display them in years to come.A report has been produced by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, published at:https://www.covenantfund.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Armistice.pdf2,773 awards were made across the United Kingdom. An evaluation of the programme showed that 69% of projects had brought communities together more than they were expecting; and that 75% of projects planned to do follow up work as a result of their event. Communities were highly positive about the impact the soldier silhouettes had on their events, reporting that they encouraged engagement between children and veterans.

Ministry of Defence: Iron and Steel

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK steel and steel products procured by his Department in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence does not hold a central record of the origin of all steel used in defence equipment projects. This is because steel for our major programmes is mainly sourced by our prime contractors and the supply chains are complex.UK suppliers have, however, made a significant contribution to the supply of steel for some of our largest defence equipment projects, including 88% of the structural steel for the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers and 50% of the value of the steel required for the Batch 1 Type 26 ships. The specialist nature of some of our steel requirements means that UK steel producers do not always have the capability to supply our programmes.This Government is committed to creating the right conditions in the UK for a competitive and sustainable steel industry. It publishes its future pipeline for steel requirements, together with data on how Departments are complying with steel procurement guidance on:www.gov.uk/government/publications/steel-public-procurement.This enables UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for Government contracts.

Satellite Communications: Procurement

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department is taking to include SMEs in the SKYNET programme.

Stuart Andrew: The Department is following the Small to Medium Enterprise principles outlined in the National Security Through Technology 2012 white paper. The SKYNET 6 Programme is taking a very proactive approach to incentivise and incorporate SMEs across the whole programme.The current SKYNET 5 programme already exceeds the 25% SME target which provides a strong foundation for the SKYNET 6 programme.

Department for International Trade

Arms Trade: Trade Fairs

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what information his Department holds on whether any representatives of human rights priority countries are planning to attend Defence and Security Equipment International 2019.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade does not hold information as to whether any countries from this group are planning to attend DSEI..

Department for Transport

Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the members of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise were selected.

Michael Ellis: Commissioners for the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise were selected via a public appointments process in accordance with the Public Appointments Code of Practice.

Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he took to secure political impartiality when selecting members of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: All appointments to the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN) have been made following an interview process based on the principles of merit, openness and fairness, in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. The recommended candidate for Head Commissioner was asked to step down from his position as an elected councillor before being appointed to ICCAN. The 7 principles of public life apply to all members of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise.

Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many members of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise are (a) supporters of political parties other than the Conservative party (b) women (c) from ethnic minorities and (d) below retirement age; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: No member of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise has declared any political interest which is material and relevant to the work of the body.On the points relating to ethnicity, gender and age, in order to prevent the association of specific personal information with individuals, the Department does not release disaggregated personal data to the level that the right honourable member has requested.

Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria he used in selecting members of the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise.

Michael Ellis: The criteria used in selecting individuals for appointment to the Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise were a demonstration of knowledge of issues pertaining to aviation, noise and the aerospace industry; proven ability to demonstrate to all stakeholders that they are capable of independence; a track record of achieving results and providing strategic vision to lead a high-profile public organisation; and to maintain a commitment to high ethical standards of integrity and honesty – in accordance with the values of Nolan’s Seven Principles of Public Life.

Aviation: Noise

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Health and Safety Executive and (b) Public Health England on the effect of aircraft noise on mental health.

Michael Ellis: Officials from the Department have regular discussions with Public Health England to discuss a range of matters, including issues relating to the effect of aircraft noise on mental health. Recent discussions include engagement in the development of the Government’s Aviation Strategy and PHE officials sit on the Department’s Airspace and Noise Engagement Group. Ministers and officials have not had any recent discussions with the Health and Safety Executive.

Aviation: Noise

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he as had with (a) the Health and Safety Executive and (b) Public Health England on the effect of aircraft noise on the health of communities under proposed flight paths.

Michael Ellis: Officials from my Department have regular discussions with Public Health England (PHE) to discuss a range of matters, including issues relating to the effect of aircraft noise on the health of communities under proposed flight paths. Recent discussions include engagement in the development of the Government’s Aviation Strategy and PHE officials sit on the Department’s Airspace and Noise Engagement Group. Ministers and officials have not had any recent discussions with the Health and Safety Executive.

Department for Transport: South Yorkshire

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many official visits (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department made to (i) Barnsley and (ii) South Yorkshire in each year since their respective appointments.

Michael Ellis: The Secretary of State and the current Ministerial team have visited South Yorkshire in the following years since their respective appointments:2016 – 12017 – 12018 – 02019 - 2Previous Departmental Ministers have also visited South Yorkshire since 2016 and Ministers have met with MPs and officials from South Yorkshire in London during this time.

Transport: North of England

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) start and (b) end dates are for his Department's investment programmes for transport in the north by 2020.

Michael Ellis: The Government funds a wide range of transport investment in the North. The start and end dates of the main transport programmes which will benefit the North by 2020 are as follows:Roads Investment Fund2015/16 to 2019/20Rail investment in Control Period 52014/15 to 2018/19Rail investment in Control Period 62019/20 to 2023/24Large Local Majors Funding2015/16 to 2020/21Transforming Cities Fund2018/19 to 2022/23Future Mobility Zones2018/19 to 2022/23Local Growth Funding2015/16 to 2020/21Integrated Transport Block2015/16 to 2020/21Highways Maintenance Fund2015/16 to 2020/21

Bus Services: Disability

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to respond to the Bus Services Act 2017: accessible information consultation.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government understands the importance of accessible on-board information in helping bus passengers to travel with confidence, and in Summer 2018 published a public consultation on proposals to require its provision on local bus services throughout Great Britain. We continue to analyse responses to the consultation and expect to announce our next steps regarding the making of Regulations and publication of guidance later in the year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Brazil: LGBT People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect of President Bolsonaro’s public statements concerning homosexuality on the safety of LGBTQI+ British tourists and visitors in Brazil.

Sir Alan Duncan: We advise all people planning to visit Brazil to consult Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice. We keep our travel advice under constant review and make regular updates to ensure it provides an up-to-date assessment of risks and other issues which may affect British Nationals.

Brazil: LGBT People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect of President Bolsonaro’s public statements concerning so-called gender ideology on the safety of trans, intersex and gender non-conforming British tourists and visitors in Brazil.

Sir Alan Duncan: We advise all people planning to visit Brazil to consult Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice. We keep our travel advice under constant review and make regular updates to ensure it provides an up-to-date assessment of risks and other issues which may affect British Nationals.

Turkey: Peace Negotiations

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterparts on the prospect of renewed peace talks between the Turkish Government and (a) Abdullah Ocalan, (b) Kurdish political parties in Turkey and (c) Kurdish civil society in Turkey.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The PKK, which Mr Öcalan leads, is a proscribed group in the UK and we condemn their acts of violence as we condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope that a peace process can be resumed in the future and have provided funding to a number of civil society organisations in Turkey seeking to build dialogue between different relevant actors on the Kurdish issue. We will continue to engage with Turkey over these important issues and to maintain our support for legitimate and democratic Kurdish groups in Turkey.

Turkey: Politics and Government

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of implementing recommendation 11.1.7 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Report on The Worsening Situation of opposition politicians in Turkey.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​When raising Mr Öcalan's case and the situation of fellow prisoners with the Turkish authorities, we have encouraged them to implement the recommendations made by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) following their previous visit to the prison in 2016. In this regard, we welcome the fact that Mr Öcalan was granted access to two lawyers on 2 May and again on 22 May. In further developments we also note that the CPT paid another visit to Imrali prison in mid-May, and that the Turkish Minister of Justice has also lifted the court restriction on lawyers' visits to Imrali prison. We note that hunger strikes in support of Mr Öcalan have now ended. We welcome these positive developments.

Chechnya: LGBT People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of reports of recently increased persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya, including reports of (a) at least two deaths of people in custody and (b) approximately 40 detentions.

Sir Alan Duncan: We are deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Chechnya, including recent reports of renewed persecution of LGBT people. UK officials are not permitted to travel to Chechnya for their own safety so officials have met with human rights organisations operating in the region to discuss these reports. Taken together with detailed reports prepared by credible organisations including LGBT Network and Human Rights Watch, our assessment is that there has been an increase in LGBT persecution in Chechnya.On 18 March the UK, joined by 31 other countries, delivered a statement to the UN Human Rights Council on the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya. I also raised this issue directly with my Russian counterpart, First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, in the margins of the Munich Security Conference in February. In November 2018, the UK was one of 16 countries to invoke the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Moscow Mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Chechnya. We will continue to urge Russia to follow the recommendations outlined in the report of the Moscow Mechanism.​

Aung Marm Oo

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of reports from Aung Marm Oo, an ethnic Rakhine journalist in Burma, who is now facing arrest; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: Press freedom and the rule of law are fundamental to any democratic society, and journalists must be allowed to work freely and without intimidation. The British Ambassador has been clear in making this point, and recently raised this case with Burma’s Minister for International Cooperation. The UK will continue to work hard to support media freedom within Myanmar.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Saudi-led coalition on its investigation into the bomb attack on the Save the Children-supported hospital in Kitaf in Yemen on 26 March 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are deeply concerned of reports of an alleged airstrike on a petrol station at a hospital facility on 26 March. Our officials have been in contact with Save the Children, who fund the hospital, about this alleged incident and have raised this matter with the Saudi-led Coalition, who have announced an investigation.​

Albania: Slavery

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the causes of modern slavery in Albania.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We work closely with the Albanian government to help tackle modern slavery. In the run-up to the UK-hosted Western Balkans Summit in July 2018, the Albanian Government endorsed the Prime Minister's Call to Action to end forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking.The UK has developed a £2 million programme of activity under the Modern Slavery Fund to address modern slavery in Albania. This work will include capacity-building for local criminal justice officials, targeted strategic communications campaigns, and support for victims and individuals at risk of being trafficked.

Fracking

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 255376, what assessment he has made of the effect of Official Development Assistance spending on shale gas development on (a) the Chinese fracking industry and (b) the environment.

Mark Field: There have been three Official Development Assistance projects related to unconventional gas in China, which have focused on ensuring a sustainable, responsible approach to China's planned development of its shale gas resources and helping accelerate the transition away from coal as an energy source. The first project supported the development of improved standards for local and community engagement with large infrastructure projects, including shale gas. The second project supported Sichuan Province in China to develop shale gas in a sustainable way by improving its environmental protection and mineral rights regulation. The third produced a scoping study to advise Her Majesty's Government on options for future Prosperity Fund projects with China on shale gas. Outcomes recorded from these, now-completed, projects include 1) increased understanding of international standards for public engagement related to energy infrastructure, 2) endorsement by the Sichuan Energy Bureau and Sichuan Environmental Protection Bureau of policy recommendations supporting the development of the first set of provincial environmental regulations for shale gas in China, and 3) improved understanding of the barriers to development of the Chinese shale gas industry, including the lack of a coherent environmental framework.

Iran: Iraq

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he make an assessment of the effectiveness of paragraph 8 of UN Security Council Resolution 598 in relation to consultations with Iran on current disputes.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We assess that ongoing dialogue with all Middle East countries and partners remains critical for protecting security and stability in the region. We welcome any measures that serve to improve that dialogue and reduce tensions. We are concerned by the general risks of unintended escalation, which would not be in any party’s interests. We are in touch with our key partners and advising Iran not to take any escalatory steps.

Aung Marm Oo

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Aung Marm Oo, a journalist currently in hiding from arrest by the Burmese security forces, has been invited to the global conference on media freedom to be hosted by the Government in July 2019.

Mark Field: A number of civil society and media representatives from Myanmar will be invited to the Global Conference for Media Freedom. Invitations are still being finalised so we are unable to confirm individual attendees at this point. We would always consider the safety of the individual concerned before offering any invite, particularly if they are in hiding.​

Saudi Arabia: Capital Punishment

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia on reports that executions of Salman al-Odah, Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omari are planned following the end of Ramadan.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the judicial processes involved in the cases of (a) Salman al-Odah, (b) Awad al-Qarni and (c) Ali al-Omari in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We continue to closely monitor the cases of Salman al-Odah, Awad al-Qarni and Ali al-Omari. The British Government is very concerned about allegations of mistreatment of those detained in Saudi Arabia because of their political views. The British Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, including in Saudi Arabia. We regularly raise human rights concerns, including the use of the death penalty, at the highest levels with the Saudi Arabian authorities, both in public and in private.

China: Chlorofluorocarbons

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the dangers to the environment of releasing CFC gasses.

Mark Field: We have been following recent media reports of the possible sources of Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions in China. We continue to maintain a broad range of discussions with China and will be raising this issue with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in upcoming meetings we have planned. We anticipate that climate change will also be included on the agenda for the forthcoming Economic and Financial Dialogue with China in June.​

Women's Rights

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to promote women's rights issues at the forthcoming G7 Summit in Biarritz.

Mark Field: The French Government has chosen to focus on inequalities throughout their G7 Presidency this year. We are working across the G7 workstreams to ensure continued progress on gender equality, particularly in the Sahel and across Sub-Saharan Africa. We will push for ambitious Summit outcomes that tackle violence against women and girls, promote girls’ education and women’s economic empowerment, and support movements to end child marriage and FGM. Our focus is on accelerating the pace of change to ensure that all women and girls are empowered and play an active part in all aspects of society.

Department for International Development

Yemen: Cholera

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support his Department is providing to help tackle the cholera epidemic in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is deeply concerned about the rise in cholera in Yemen this year, with a suspected 300,000 cases recorded between January and April 2019. In response, the UK rapidly disbursed £18 million last month to the UN’s pooled fund and UNICEF to help tackle the issue. We have seen a decline in suspected cholera cases in the last five weeks and hope this continues.To help prepare for outbreaks of cholera, the UK is leading a joint Met Office, NASA and US scientist team to accurately predict where the disease will spread to in Yemen. We contributed 25% towards the cost of cholera vaccination campaigns this year which have vaccinated over 2 million people in both Houthi and Government of Yemen controlled areas to date.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Ebola

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to protect from violence the health workers providing vaccines and aid to people affected by Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Harriett Baldwin: The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC is one of DFID’s key emergency priorities. Although a challenging security context is significantly hampering response activities, an experimental vaccine has been deployed throughout the response to good effect, and has likely saved thousands of lives.The UK Government is committed to promoting respect for International Humanitarian Law. We strongly condemn repeated attacks and threats of violence directed towards health facilities and health workers who are working towards ending this outbreak. Health workers are not a target. The response must balance protecting health workers with not using security in a way that further escalates mistrust or violence. This is something that the UK has been advocating since the beginning of the outbreak. We are pleased to see theincreasing involvement of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security, as well as a number of civil society organisations who have important experience of working in fragile and conflict affected humanitarian contexts.

Government Departments: Sustainable Development

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2019 to Question 211324 on Government Departments: Sustainable Development, if he will publish the names of each SDG champion for each Government department.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Single Departmental Plans set out how Departmental objectives support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG Champions are Senior Civil Servants who are responsible for promoting the SDGs and Voluntary National Review within their respective departments. While we do not intend to publish a list of names, each Department and their SDG Champion can be contacted via the SDGs mailbox: sdgs@dfid.gov.uk.

Sustainable Development

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish the full report of the Voluntary National Review in line with the Government's timescales.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Voluntary National Review (VNR) is currently being finalised. We intend to submit it to the UN on 14 June and publish it shortly afterwards. The VNR will then be presented to the UN High Level Political Forum in New York on 16 July.

Sustainable Development

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the report of the voluntary national review will include a review of (a) progress towards the sustainable development goals and (b) the effect of UK policies on the achievement of those goals.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) will take stock of the UK’s domestic and international activity in support of all 17 Goals. The final report will have a chapter for each Goal which will include information on action the UK Government is taking in relation to each Goal, along with separate sections which highlight action being taken by the administrations in Scotland and Wales, and in Northern Ireland. The VNR will also include case studies throughout, which will shine a spotlight on activity by organisations beyond Government, including business and civil society.

Africa and Asia: Nature Conservation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to use Official Development Assistance to protect large endangered animals in (a) Africa and (b) Asia.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has committed over £600m of Official Development Assistance between 2011-2021 to conserve wildlife and nature. This includes work that we cannot breakdown geographically such as our funding to the Global Environment Facility and our work on curbing illicit financial flows. We also invest substantial sums in tackling deforestation which helps to protect habitats for endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger and Asian elephant. DFID, with Defra, funds the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and to date £23m has been allocated, of which £13.8m are for projects in Africa and £8.4m in Asia.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Dame Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the role of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in helping to curb the spread of antimicrobial resistance globally; and will he make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Global Fund continues to play a critical role in addressing the spread of antimicrobial resistance, a major global health threat. The Global Fund works to roll out new antimicrobials and diagnostic tools for example, helping to treat 102,000 people for drug-resistant tuberculosis in 2017. It also reduces the need for antimicrobials by: supporting and strengthening health systems; preventing infection (for example helping to distribute 197 million bed nets in 2017 to prevent malaria); and by supporting prompt diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to encourage international donors to release funds pledged for humanitarian relief in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We remain very concerned by the potential funding gap the UN humanitarian response in Yemen is facing this year. The 2019 Yemen Pledging Conference in Geneva this March saw $2.6 billion pledged by international donors (against a $4.2 billion UN humanitarian appeal for 2019), approximately 20% of which has been disbursed to date.The UK is regularly engaging with other donors at senior levels to urge the rapid disbursement of funding to the UN to enable it to cover urgent needs.The UK has also brought forward funding and will have made available over half of our £200 million pledge for this financial year (2019/2020) by the beginning of June.

Department for Education

Members: Correspondence

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the letter of 19 March 2019 from the hon. Member for Croydon North on social, emotional and mental health services and school funding.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​​A response was originally sent to the hon. Member for Croydon North on the 4 April 2019. A copy of this letter was sent to the hon. Member for Croydon North’s constituency office on 23 May 2019.

School Meals: Standards

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to enforce the requirements for School Food Regulations 2014.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​Good schools understand the benefits of healthy eating. They actively want to meet the standards, and the vast majority of parents support them in this.Governing boards are legally responsible for meeting the School Food Standards. If they do not, they should be supported to address the issues and there are a number of organisations that can provide this support. If there are still concerns, the matter can be raised with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education who can issue a direction to the school if necessary.

School Meals: Standards

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made in delivering the healthy schools rating scheme.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department remains committed to delivering the healthy schools rating scheme in a way that makes the most of existing resources available to schools. We have made progress with the design of the scheme and the testing phase has been completed. We will share more information shortly.

Children: Social Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for children's services.

Nadhim Zahawi: Funding for children’s services is made available through the local government finance settlement. We are in the final year of a multi-year settlement deal and have made £46.4 billion available this year for local services including those for children’s services. The government has also made £410 million available to local authorities this year specifically for adult and children social care.My department is working with the sector, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and with HM Treasury, as part of our preparation for the next Spending Review, to understand the level of funding local government needs to meet demand and deliver statutory duties.The Department for Education are also working closely with MHCLG on the review of relative needs and resources to develop a robust, up-to-date approach to funding distribution for children's services at local government finance settlements.

Malmesbury School

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with Imagile Infrastructure Management on the delays to its completion of its planned expansion of Malmesbury Academy; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not met Imagile Infrastructure Management on the delays to its completion of its planned expansion of Malmesbury Academy.The department has not funded the expansion. The expansion has been funded by Wiltshire local authority, using money they have received from Section 106 funding.

Imagile Infrastructure Management

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what private finance initiative contracts his Department has awarded to Imagile Infrastructure Management in each year for which such information is available.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not awarded any private finance initiative contracts to Imagile Infrastructure Management.

Imagile Infrastructure Management

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints he has received about delays to private finance initiative contracts administered by Imagile Infrastructure Management in each year for which such information is available.

Nick Gibb: The Department is not aware of any complaints received about delays to private finance contracts administered by Imagile Infrastructure Management.

Department for Education: Contracts

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to ensure that (a) Imagile Infrastructure Management and (b) other private finance initiative providers holding contracts with his Department are held to account for their performance.

Nick Gibb: Imagile Infrastructure Management does not hold any private finance contracts with this Department. The only private finance contracts entered into by this Department are the five private finance 2 contracts procured under the recent Priority School Building Programme. The Department actively manages and enforces those contracts to hold the providers under those contracts to account for their performance.

Overseas Students: Africa

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what grants are available to people living in Africa to help towards the cost of tuition fees at UK universities; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: Scholarships are a key part of the UK’s soft power, creating lasting positive relations with future leaders, influencers and decision-makers around the world. Many scholars funded by the UK go on to take up senior leadership positions in their home countries, and the strong bond they have formed with the UK enhances our direct and indirect influence abroad. This enhances our diplomatic work, our efforts in promoting increased trade and investment and supports our national security through increased goodwill and cooperation. The Chevening Scholarship, sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), funds between 300-400 scholars a year from across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 400-500 including North Africa. The FCO have awarded scholarships to over 8000 scholars across SSA since the programme began. In August 2018 my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced an additional £2.7 million to fund up to an extra 100 scholarships across SSA, and in May 2019 my right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, announced a new pan-Sub-Saharan Africa Chevening Media Freedom Fellowship programme for 60 leading journalists to train in the UK over the next 5 years. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, sponsored by the Department for International Development, funds approximately 313 scholars a year from across SSA to undertake Master’s, PhD and split-site study at UK universities.

Academies: Lighting

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department holds a copy of the documents (a) Whitehaven Academy, LED Lights and Heating Report 2014-16, published on 5 September 2018 and (b) Fowey River Academy, LED Lighting Report 2014-2017, published on 4 September 2018 which were provided to the Bright Tribe Academies Trust by GPJ Consulting.

Nick Gibb: Yes, the Department holds copies of both reports.

Special Educational Needs: Classroom Assistants

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the role of teaching assistants in supporting children with special needs; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not made a formal assessment of the role of Teaching Assistants in supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) to date. The Department has funded the development of a number of good practice guidance documents through its SEND schools’ workforce contracts, including a guide on the Effective Deployment of Teaching Assistants, available at: https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/whole-school-send/find-wss-resources.html. The Department’s Rapid Evidence Assessment (2017) (available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/628630/DfE_SEN_Support_REA_Report.pdf) on effective practice for supporting children and young people on SEND support in mainstream schools and colleges also includes an overview of available evidence on a range of specific interventions delivered by teaching assistants. The Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance report; “Making best use of Teaching Assistants” (available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/making-best-use-of-teaching-assistants) offers the latest evidence and makes a number of recommendations to help schools make best use of their teaching assistants.

Classroom Assistants

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of teaching assistants in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of teaching assistants in service in state funded schools in England, in each year since November 2010. This information can be found in the School Workforce Census, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2017.  FTE teaching assistants2010213,9002011219,8002012232,3002013243,7002014255,1002015263,0002016265,6002017262,800

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for children with special educational needs.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for services to assist deaf children.

Nadhim Zahawi: We do not make a separate assessment of adequacy of funding for services to assist deaf children, instead considering funding for these services in the round alongside funding for children with other special education needs and disabilities (SEND). We keep under review the adequacy of funding for children and young people with all SEND, including for services to help deaf children, in making allocations to local authorities and schools. Last December we announced additional high needs funding for those with more complex needs, amounting to £250 million, across last year and this year, bringing the total high needs funding to £6.3 billion in 2019-20. We understand that local authorities and schools are experiencing pressures on their budgets because of increasing costs and are looking carefully at how much funding will be needed in future years as we approach the next Spending Review.

Hadlow College

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the insolvency of Hadlow College, what discussions (a) he and (b) the Education and Skills Funding Agency has had with (i) staff and (ii) student representatives at Hadlow College on protecting learner provision for existing students.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the insolvency of Hadlow College, what steps he will take to ensure that the education administrator appointed will have a broad knowledge of the further education sector.

Anne Milton: Students are at the heart of the new education administration regime: its primary objective is to avoid or minimise disruption to the studies of existing students. During the education administration, Hadlow College will continue to operate as usual and communications with students and staff have been a priority. The administrators have led communications with staff, including briefing sessions, a letter to all staff and a meeting with the University and College Union. We understand from administrators that there are no student representatives other than the student governors. Therefore, in discussion with college management, the administrators have decided to communicate to students mostly through teachers as it was felt that this approach was least disruptive. College staff have been actively encouraged to update and answer questions from their students. The college also wrote to existing students, parents and guardians and prospective students to assure them that classes, exams and enrolments are continuing as normal. Students have been encouraged to submit queries either directly to the college communications team or via their teachers. Earlier this year, we established a panel of insolvency practitioners to work on further education (FE) insolvencies, following a procurement process which, among other things, looked at FE sector experience. The firm appointed for Hadlow College’s insolvency is BDO, which has experience of the FE sector. Additionally, the administrators can draw on a wide range of other education expertise, including governors and staff at the college, the FE Commissioner’s team and the wider sector.

Adult Education: Finance

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for community learning services.

Anne Milton: As a department, we are considering adult skills, which includes community learning, as part of the adult education budget and are looking carefully at further education funding. We recognise that some of the key areas of funding have not kept up with costs and we will continue to look carefully at these issues in preparation for the next Spending Review and in light of the recommendations of the Post-18 Review.

Pupil Exclusions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) excluded children and (b) parents of excluded children Edward Timpson and his review team met with as part of the exclusion review by (i) ethnicity and (ii) gender.

Nick Gibb: The Timpson review was commissioned to explore exclusions practice and why children with some characteristics, such as children from particular ethnic groups, are more likely to be excluded from school. No data is held on the characteristics of the individuals who met with the review team, but understanding the variation in exclusion rates between pupil groups was a consideration across the review’s evidence gathering and engagement, and the report is informed by extensive engagement with all those involved in exclusion, including children who had been excluded and their parents.The review heard from excluded children and parents during the call for evidence as well as during fieldwork visits. This included during visits to schools as well as meetings arranged specifically to hear from parent and carer groups. Locations for visits were selected based on matching areas with similar pupil populations, including the proportion who were from ethnic minority backgrounds. The review is also informed by independent research undertaken by Coram on the experience of children, including children who had been excluded, and their parents. Information on the gender and ethnicity of children whose parents spoke to Coram is published as part of their report. Information on the gender of children who spoke directly to Coram is also provided. Coram’s research is available here: https://www.coram.org.uk/sites/default/files/resource_files/School%20exclusions_full%20report_final_0.pdf.

Children: Food Poverty

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children that went to school hungry at least once in the 2017-18.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally. We do not ask schools to collect this information, and we do not hold any estimate.I refer the hon. Member for Cardiff Central to the answer I gave on 2 April 2019 to Question 238408.This year we are more than quadrupling investment in our holiday activities and food programme to £9.1 million. We estimate that around 50,000 children will benefit from being offered high quality free holiday provision this summer. This will deliver free healthy food and activities to disadvantaged children and families.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the number Education Health and Care Plans required in (a) the UK and (b) Slough constituency.

Nadhim Zahawi: Trends in the number of new Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in England are published in the annual ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans’ statistical release which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018.The information is not held centrally, regarding constituency level or the whole of the UK. Figures are collected for each local authority in England.

Higher Education: Standards

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to introduce the teaching excellence framework by subject level for the 2019-20 academic year.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timeframe is for the publication of the report on the independent review of the teaching excellence framework.

Chris Skidmore: Dame Shirley Pearce is currently conducting an independent review of the operation of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), as required by section 26 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. She has spent several months collecting evidence through a “call for views” and an extensive series of listening sessions and we expect her to report in the summer. Alongside the review, the Office for Students (OfS) has been carrying out the second year of a pilot of subject-level TEF. This will conclude shortly and the OfS will publish its findings. We will await Dame Shirley’s recommendations, and take account of the evidence from the subject-level TEF pilot, before making a decision on the next phase of the TEF.

Schools: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to increase the level of high needs block funding.

Nadhim Zahawi: Last December we announced an additional high needs funding for those with more complex needs, amounting to £250 million. This brings the total high needs funding to £6.3 billion in 2019-20. We understand that local authorities and schools are experiencing pressures on their budgets because of increasing costs. The department is looking carefully at how much funding will be needed in future years as we approach the next Spending Review.

Special Educational Needs: Schools

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of demand for Education, Health and Care Plans on local authority budgets for school transport.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authority spending on home to school transport for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) generally increases year on year. Section 251 outturn data shows for example, total SEND transport spend (on a gross basis) was £645 million in 2014-15 and £769 million in 2017-18: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data. This increase is likely to be the result of a number of factors and cannot be attributed solely to the demand for education, health and care plans.We have invested a total of £365 million through the special provision capital fund from 2018-19 to 2020-21, which will help local authorities to create new places and improve facilities for pupils with SEND.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to ring-fence notional funding of £6,000 for pupils with special educational needs in mainstream settings.

Nadhim Zahawi: We want to make sure that the funding system for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities is working effectively to get money to the right places at the right time, and have launched a call for evidence: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-and-ap-provision-call-for-evidence. The aim is to gather the information necessary to make improvements where they are needed, and particularly so that we can identify and address any perverse incentives in the financial arrangements. This includes gathering information on the notional funding of £6,000 and how it operates.

Church Commissioners

Housing: Construction

Frank Field: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what proportion of residential developments constructed since 2015 (a) on land owned by the Church of England under the direction of the strategic land team and (b) by private developers comprise affordable housing.

Dame Caroline Spelman: Planning permissions have been granted across a range of geographies, from County Durham where the affordable housing requirement is currently 15%, to Wells in Somerset where the requirement is 40%.On land owned by the Church Commissioners where planning permission has been received and sites sold since 2015, approximately 20% of the homes will be affordable dwellings.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dogs: Smuggling

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Immigration Minister on (a) puppy smuggling and (b) collaboration between Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Force in tackling that activity.

David Rutley: Defra takes the issue of the smuggling of dogs and puppies seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to the smuggled dogs and puts the health of pets and people in the UK at risk. We are working hard to tackle the problem, targeting both the supply and demand of illegally imported dogs. This approach includes enforcement, international engagement, tighter regulation and public communications. A meeting with the Immigration Minister, specifically to discuss puppy smuggling, was arranged a few weeks ago for mid-June. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) continues to work collaboratively with Border Force at ports and airports, sharing intelligence in order to disrupt illegal imports.

Plastics: Regulation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the single-use plastic products that are set to be banned from April 2020 will still be available to disabled people who require them.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that plastic straws provided to disabled people from pharmacies that are set to be banned from April 2020 will still be available to disabled people who require them.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The exemptions will ensure that plastic straws will continue to be available for medical uses and through registered pharmacies (in store and online), and through catering establishments for use by people with disabilities who rely on them to eat and drink safely and independently. For plastic straws, the Government will review the policy after the ban has been in place for a year, to assess its effectiveness in cutting the number of straws, its impact on those with disabilities, and whether the policy needs to be revised.

Cats: Pet Travel Scheme

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many kittens and cats entered the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme in 2018.

David Rutley: In 2018, 28,979 cats and kittens entered Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme. This data is not publically available, but is held by the Animal and Plant Agency (APHA). APHA only holds data on the number of pets entering Great Britain (rather than the UK as a whole). This statistic is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. It is a true reflection of the information that we have access to, however, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as it is provided to us by third parties.

Pet Travel Scheme

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information Animal and Plant Health Agency holds on animals imported into the UK under the Pet Travel Scheme; and (a) when and (b) for what reasons that Agency stopped recording the country of origin of animals imported under that scheme.

David Rutley: Currently the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) holds data on the total number of animals entering Great Britain under the Pet Travel Scheme, and the number of animals that failed the compliance checks. APHA stopped recording the country of origin of compliant animals imported under the scheme in 2016. Detailed data on non-compliant pet animals, including the country in which the paperwork accompanying the animal was issued, is always collected. In previous years the country of origin data was taken from a legacy database (Pets database) which was deployed in 2006 when the throughput of pet animals was much lower. Pet carriers recorded details of pet animals entering Great Britain, including the country of origin. APHA introduced a new system to establish the quality of the submitted data available from the Pets Database. This new system more accurately records the number of pet animals entering the country but does not record the country in which the paperwork was issued or the country the animal travelled from. When the new system was introduced to verify throughput figures it was identified that recording the country of origin for compliant animals would place an undue burden on the carriers given the volume of pets travelling (the number of pets entering Great Britain has increased from 91,308 in 2006 to 336,446 in 2018). Collecting the country of origin data for compliant pet imports has not proved useful in deterring puppy smuggling as it is essentially collecting information on legal movements; however APHA are looking at how this data could be accurately collected in the future and the likely costs that would be involved. There is no legal requirement for the country of origin to be recorded, and we always relied on the good will of the carriers to record this information.

Farmers: Suicide

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 254107 on Farmers: Suicide, if he will set up a round table for hon. Members representing agricultural constituencies to discuss what steps can be taken to reduce the number of suicides of farmers and farm workers.

Mr Robert Goodwill: This is a good suggestion and I would welcome the opportunity to explore further with colleagues representing agricultural constituencies these important issues that were raised in debate on 22 May. Defra and the Department for Health and Social Care work closely together to monitor and improve mental health and wellbeing in rural communities and I suggest that officials from both departments join us in this discussion.

Natural England: Licensing

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether before Natural England’s announcement of the end of its general licences in April 2019, it offered the group Wild Justice a review of those licences as an alternative to their immediate removal.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Natural England wrote to Wild Justice on 13 March 2019 confirming its intention to undertake a planned review of its general licences during 2019, and that Wild Justice and other stakeholders would be able to participate in that review. Natural England argued that, in this context, it would be premature for Wild Justice to commence legal proceedings.

Birds: Conservation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the Government was of cases CO1673/2018 and CO1683/2018 brought against Natural England including (a) administration costs and (b) legal expenditure; and how much of those costs the court allowed the Government to recover from (a) the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and (b) Mark Avery.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The legal costs to Natural England of defending cases CO1673/2018 and CO1683/2018, and the related appeal of those cases, were £106,000. Natural England was awarded costs for successfully defending the challenge in the High Court though these costs were capped at £10,000 for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and £5,000 from Mark Avery in accordance with cost protection rules for Aarhus Convention claims.

Landfill

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the UK's waste that has gone to landfill in the last 12 months.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The latest published figures for the UK are for the 2016 year. Details of the latest published figures can be found in Table 8 on page 12 of the UK Waste Statistics, available at this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/784263/UK_Statistics_on_Waste_statistical_notice_March_2019_rev_FINAL.pdf.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent on preparing for leaving the EU without a deal since March 2019.

James Cleverly: HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of funding for all exit scenarios since 2016.However, given the significant overlap of work across scenarios, the Department does not record costs against specific scenarios. The Department does not therefore hold this information.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Buildings

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 253493 on Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Location, how many staff are located in the new premises at 85 Strand; how much floor space those staff occupy; at what rate per square metre; which locations were considered outside London for new premises; and what the comparable cost would have been in locating those staff outside London.

Mr Charles Walker: I have asked IPSA to reply.IPSA currently has 69 members of staff. It included in its office requirements space for up to 76 staff in order to provide flexibility for periods where there is a higher volume of work and therefore a need for additional temporary staff, such as General Election periods.To disclose the size of the office or rate paid per square metre would be prejudicial to commercial interests. IPSA’s annual accounts are laid in Parliament and published each year, and will provide information about operational costs.Before choosing its offices at 85 Strand, IPSA considered potential premises in Croydon and Milton Keynes, as well as Stratford and Canary Wharf in London, but determined that the selected location provided the prospect of better support to MPs and better value for money for the taxpayer.

Attorney General

Armed Forces: Prosecutions

Nia Griffith: To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on legal protections for armed forces personnel and veterans.

Mr Geoffrey Cox: As a consequence of the long-standing Law Officers’ Convention, the Attorney General does not confirm whether advice has been provided to Ministerial colleagues on any particular issue, or the content of any advice that has been given. Policy responsibility for this matter lies with the Secretary of State for Defence.

Wales Office

Economic Situation: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether his Department has (a) prepared, (b) commissioned, (c) collaborated on and (d) awareness of any quantitative future projections that show that any form of leaving the EU will be directly beneficial either in terms of improving (i) GVA in Wales, (ii) Welsh GDP growth, (iii)  direct foreign investment in Wales and (iv) the quantity or value of Welsh goods and services that are exported from the Welsh economy.

Alun Cairns: In November last year, the UK Government published economic analysis of EU exit under different scenarios, bringing together evidence from across government. This analysis found that under the modelled White Paper scenario there may be a very small effect on the economy over a long period of time, with Welsh GVA estimated to be 0.1% lower compared to today’s arrangements.This estimate does not include impact of domestic policies such as our Modern Industrial Strategy and the opportunities arising from additional regulatory flexibility, and these domestic policies can drive growth and productivity in Wales going forwards.

Wales Office: Iron and Steel

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of steel and steel products procured by his Department in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018 was sourced from (i) the UK and (ii) Wales.

Kevin Foster: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales did not procure any steel or steel products in 2017 and 2018.

Ministry of Justice

Youth Offending Teams: Grants

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of Youth justice grants provided to local authorities to fund Youth Offending Teams was in each year since 2010, by council.

Edward Argar: Table A attached sets out the total funding the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has given to local authorities in each year from 2009/10 to 2017/18 as published in the 2017/18 annual youth justice statistics (published totals for 2018/19 are not yet available). Table B breaks this down by local authority. The majority of this funding helps support the day-to-day business of Youth Offending Teams (YOTs), but it also includes some discrete additional grants for specific projects or initiatives, for example funding for restorative justice. The annual recorded value of the additional grants is set out in Table C. Due to a change in reporting processes the additional grants given in 2014/15 and 2015/16 were not included in the published totals in the 2017/18 youth justice statistics. The totals for these years therefore differ between Table A (where the additional grants are not included) and Table B (where they are included).



Table
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Probate: Reform

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's reform of probate regulations.

Paul Maynard: The 2018 amendments to the non-contentious probate rules enabled personal applications to be submitted online. This service is assessed through a range of measures, such as user feedback and user satisfaction. Of 4,995 responses from users who submitted their application online 93% indicated from five feedback options that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the online application service provided. The online system is being continually improved and developed as a result of the feedback provided.

Prisoners' Release: Homelessness

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were released from prison into homelessness in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: Making sure that we address female offenders’ housing and support needs is an absolute priority, at national and local level. Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS) are required to facilitate access to housing and support services for the female offenders that they are managing. This includes working together with local partners to help women find accommodation and supporting them to maintain their accommodation as part of a package of support tailored to meet their individual needs. Our reforms to probation are designed to encourage long-term rehabilitation and ultimately reduce reoffending – and the first step in this is ensuring that everyone leaving prison has access to secure and stable accommodation. We are improving support for offenders leaving prison with a £22 million investment in through-the-gate services which will help to strengthen ties with key partners, including the third sector, local authorities and the police. We recognise that improvements need to be made to current probation services and are working with providers to consider further action that we might take. The data for the years before 2017-2018 could obtained only at disproportionate cost. There is published data for the period 2017-2018. You can access this data here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729062/accommodation-cirumstances-tables-2018.xlsxAccommodation at Release from Custody:  Accommodation Circumstances by Gender, 2017-18, England and WalesGenderSettled accommodationBail/probation accommodationRough sleepingOther homelessOther unsettled accommodationUnknownTotal Female3,3684032408317784136,033

Prisoners: Homelessness

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were recorded as being of No Fixed Abode on their arrival in custody in each prison in each year since 2010.

Robert Buckland: Everyone should have a safe and suitable home to live; having somewhere to live gives people a stable platform from which to access health services, hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them reoffending.The Government published its Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018, launching a £100 millioninitiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England. As part of thisstrategy, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government(MHCLG), will be investing approximately £6m in a pilot scheme to support ex-offenders securesuitable accommodation upon release; the pilots will operate in HMPs Pentonville, Bristol and Staff in both National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies work together with local authorities and other providers of accommodation with the aim of ensuring all offenders under our supervision have accommodation especially when they are released from prison. The table below provides data on the number of prisoners that declared their accommodation status as of ‘No Fixed Abode’ on their reception into custody in each prison in each year since 2010. The data for 2014 is not held. PRISONS Year2015201620172018Altcourse 4896018591047Bedford 549537197373Belmarsh266334328245Birmingham 696106210561036Brinsford 958790126Bristol 347490572557Bronzefield33873610061022Bullingdon 500635725904Cardiff 800838845838Chelmsford 523520508484Doncaster701605623683Dovegate 192292525560Drake Hall3~~~Durham 490541926943Eastwood Park 323454532514Elmley 60688010821115Exeter 660694723695Forest Bank 87810088981252Foston Hall 139162197297Glen Parva 576512 Hewell 6558738731027High Down 631531283333Hollesley Bay ~1~~Holloway 33660~~Holme 248291128~Hull 620642670661Isle of Wight 21423231Kirkham ~~~1Leeds 758619571764Leicester 179226253348Lewes 449411480625Lincoln 299338514437Liverpool 444526555467Low Newton103100103173Manchester 547687580449New Hall 176205233259Norwich 451561647553Nottingham 7599889231226Parc 33402030Pentonville 768808908811Peterborough349472764544Peterborough Female 205339496558Preston 343439465630Stoke Heath 5325Swansea 314316365346Thameside 1229118814631611Wandsworth 1421168215411423Winchester 576572628540Woodhill 406499554474Wormwood Scrubs 1165110310631096 Notes1) The Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) is completed on entry to custody for all prisoners for each calendar year 2015-2018. It therefore will include a mix of those received into custody on remand and those sentenced from court. Using just the BCS, there is no way to determine which of those received into custody on remand were released un-convicted, therefore it is important to stress that this data covers prisoners, and can’t be used to describe offenders, as some of those counted will ultimately not have been found guilty of any offence.2) NFA on reception is determined where the answer to question B3.1 OR B3.4 on the BCS has been answered as ‘NFA’. If B3.1 is answered NFA then B3.4 isn’t made available to be answered, so it is not possible to double count NFA within the same BCS.3) The two questions are: B3.1 – What was your accommodation status before prison & B3.4 – What type of housing did you live in before you came to prison4) These questions from the BCS Part 1 are recorded as per the prisoner’s answers and are not assessed.5) The total number of prisoners shown is for the number of fully completed BCS Part 1s for each year, based on the Reception Date for each prisoner.6) A proportion of prisoners will enter custody multiple times each year and for this PQ all responses have been included as a prisoner may provide different answers to these questions over time.The figures have not been checked by statistician

Probation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which areas the eleven new probation regions will be coterminous with.

Robert Buckland: The Government set out its plans for the future of probation in the response to the public consultation Strengthening Probation, Building Confidence, published on 16 May 2019. We are now working with stakeholders and partners to develop more detailed plans for the future model. Our intention is that probation regions to be created as part of future arrangements in England and Wales will be coterminous with police force areas.

Hull Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on staff there were at HMP Hull in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hull Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were assaulted at HMP Hull in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hull Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serious assaults on staff there were at HMP Hull in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hull Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were seriously assaulted at HMP Hull in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hull Prison: Self-harm

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of self-harm there have been at HMP Hull in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coroners: Legal Representation

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent from the public purse on legal representation for the Government at Inquests for each year since 2010.

Paul Maynard: The sums my Department has spent on legal representation for the Government at inquests in each of the last ten calendar years are set out below.2009 £2,742,878.882010 £2,454,272.312011 £2,573,967.952012 £2,292,076.762013 £2,861,681.672014 £2,806,249.302015 £2,947,851.782016 £3,568,044.302017 £4,198,893.322018 £3,720,373.41 These are the costs of representation for the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty's Prison & Probation Service and the Youth Justice Board, and for their staff. In the vast majority of cases the legal representatives are acting for both the body and all members of its staff called as witnesses, and the respective costs cannot therefore be separated. In a very small number of cases separate representation is provided for one or more members of staff. The costs of representation for contracted prisons and their staff are met by the provider. Before the National Probation Service was created in April 2014 each Probation Trust met its own representation costs, and since then each Community Rehabilitation Company has done likewise. In addition, in 2009 and 2010 £17,770.07 was incurred on representation for prison Independent Monitoring Boards.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: Terrorism

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total amount of compensation awarded by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to victims of terrorism was in each year since 2010.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average amount of compensation awarded by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to victims of terrorism was in each year since 2010.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many compensation awards have been made to victims of terrorism by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: This information can only be provided for financial years 2017/18 & 2018/19. Information from previous financial years has been archived in line with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s (CICA) data retention policy. Terrorism is not defined for the purposes of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Victims are compensated for the injuries they have sustained rather than the nature of the incident (with the exception of sexual assault or abuse). To support consistent decision-making, CICA does record the nature of the incident where it identifies the potential for multiple applications in relation to the same circumstances. The data below relates to applicants who have been identified as victims of terrorism for this purpose and is calculated on the basis of the first compensation award made on an application. PeriodAverage amount of compensation awardedNumber of compensation awards madeTotal amount of compensation awarded2017-18£9,07575£680,6432018-19£4,317220£949,687

Humber Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on prisoners there have been at HMP Humber in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: Terrorism

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether compensation awarded to victims of terrorism by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is ring-fenced from the wider budget for compensation for victims of violent crime.

Edward Argar: Compensation awarded to victims of terrorism in Great Britain, under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, is made from the overall compensation budget available to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: Terrorism

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of applications for compensation as a result of being the victim of terrorism were granted by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: This information can only be provided for financial years 2017/18 & 2018/19. Information from previous financial years has been archived in line with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s (CICA) data retention policy. Terrorism is not defined for the purposes of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Victims are compensated for the injuries they have sustained rather than the nature of the incident (with the exception of sexual assault or abuse). To support consistent decision-making, CICA does record the nature of the incident where it identifies the potential for multiple applications in relation to the same circumstances. The data below relates to applicants who have been identified as victims of terrorism for this purpose. The table below shows the proportion of applications from victims of terrorism which were granted by the CICA, expressed as a percentage of the applications from victims of terrorism which were resolved in the same year.   PeriodProportion2017-1887%2018-1969%

Humber Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serious assaults on staff there have been at HMP Humber each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: Terrorism

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken is by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to pay compensation to victims of terrorism following a successful application in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Edward Argar: This information can only be provided for financial years 2017/18 & 2018/19. Information from previous financial years has been archived in line with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s (CICA) data retention policy. Terrorism is not defined for the purposes of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Victims are compensated for the injuries they have sustained rather than the nature of the incident (with the exception of sexual assault or abuse). To support consistent decision-making, CICA does record the nature of the incident where it identifies the potential for multiple applications in relation to the same circumstances. The data below relates to applicants who have been identified as victims of terrorism for this purpose.  PeriodAverage time taken to pay compensation to victims of terrorism following a successful application2017-1814 days from receipt of acceptance of award2018-195 days from receipt of acceptance of award

Humber Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serious assaults on prisoners there have been at HMP Humber in each the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Humber Prison: Crimes of Violence

Mr Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of self-harm there were at HMP Humber in each of the last 12 months.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Companies: Civil Proceedings

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will publish the titles of the (a) court cases or (b) arbitration hearings that involved government owned companies that were held in private in commercial courts in the last three years.

Paul Maynard: The Ministry of Justice does not hold a list of Government-owned companies that would be required to conduct any such search, nor does the Ministry centrally hold information on hearings held in private. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Companies: Civil Proceedings

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the amount of public money at risk in (a) active court proceedings and (b) enforcement hearings which have been brought against Government-owned companies.

Paul Maynard: The Ministry of Justice does not hold any central detail on the amount of public money at risk in active court proceedings or enforcement hearings which have been brought against Government-owned companies, nor does the Ministry hold a list of Government-owned companies that would be required to conduct any such search.

Companies: Civil Proceedings

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) court cases and (b) enforcement hearings are currently being brought against Government-owned companies.

Paul Maynard: The Ministry of Justice does not hold a list of court cases and enforcement hearings that are currently being brought against Government-owned companies, nor does the Ministry hold a list of Government-owned companies that would be required to conduct any such search.

Prisoners: Health

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of prisoners with long-term health conditions in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the number of prisoners with long-term health conditions. NHS England commission health services in prison and include questions on long-term health conditions in the reception and secondary health screen which all prisoners receive.

Cabinet Office

Elections: Internet

Patrick Grady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will issue a response to the recommendations published by FullFact on 12 April 2019 on reform of electoral laws governing online campaigning.

Kevin Foster: The Government is committed to increasing transparency in digital campaigning. On 5 May 2019, the Government announced that candidates, political parties and non-party campaigners will be required to brand or ‘imprint’ their digital election materials, so the public is clear who is targeting them. The Government will bring forward the technical proposal for this regime later on this year. Whilst there are no current plans for a database of online political adverts, we are encouraging action to increase transparency of wider political advertising online. Several social media companies have already implemented tools to enhance transparency about the origins of political and electoral adverts on their platforms, including political advert libraries. However, these efforts have been inconsistent and the Government is clear that more could be done. As such, the Online Harms White Paper, published on 8 April 2019, proposes that under the new online safety regulatory framework platforms could be required to improve transparency of political advertising, as part of their duty of care to protect their users from disinformation.

Huawei: 5G

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 255389 on 5G, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of  instructing the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre to (a) evaluate and (b) inspect Huawei 5G equipment.

Mr David Lidington: The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, as the national technical authority for information assurance and the lead Government operational agency on cyber security, leads for the Government in dealing with HCSEC and with Huawei more generally on technical security matters The Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) is a private entity. As detailed in the HCSEC Oversight Board report, their plan of evaluation is driven by the commercial rollout of services by the UK operators that use Huawei equipment. As new equipment is rolled out, Government can work with them to refocus their efforts but we cannot instruct them. When operators do begin deploying equipment then it can be tested. HCSEC has not begun assessing any 5G equipment.We have undertaken a thorough, evidence-based review of the 5G supply chain to ensure the secure and resilient roll-out of 5G. It will report in due course, and to Parliament first.

Huawei: 5G

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2019 to Question 254274 on Huawei: 5G, whether the National Cyber Security Centre monitors the number of UK telecoms operators that utilise Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre advice and guidance.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the honourable member to my answer to Question 254274 on 22 May 2019.

Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issued to the Department of Transport on membership of the new Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Dowden: Appointments to ICCAN are made by Department for Transport ministers. The Cabinet Office has not issued any guidance to Department for Transport on membership of the new Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise.

Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 254140, what the scope will be of the consultation launched by the Registrar into codes of conduct.

Kevin Foster: The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 established it is the role of the Registrar to keep and publish the Registrar of consultant lobbyists, in which third party lobbyists declare the names of their clients, and whether or not they subscribe to a relevant code of conduct.The Registrar has a duty to monitor compliance, and the power to undertake enforcement action against non-compliance. Therefore, it is for the Registrar to determine whether to launch any consultation into codes of conduct and the scope of such a consultation. I understand the Registrar is currently finalising the exact scope of the proposed consultation and will publish further details on the ORCL website when the consultation is launched.It is also for the independent Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to determine whether a code of conduct a registrant wishes to declare on the Register is 'relevant'. It is for the Registrar to determine whether to make known information about where a code of conduct has failed to meet the test of relevance, and such queries should be directed towards the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.

Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 254140, for what reasons the Registrar is launching a consultation on codes of conduct.

Kevin Foster: The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 established it is the role of the Registrar to keep and publish the Registrar of consultant lobbyists, in which third party lobbyists declare the names of their clients, and whether or not they subscribe to a relevant code of conduct.The Registrar has a duty to monitor compliance, and the power to undertake enforcement action against non-compliance. Therefore, it is for the Registrar to determine whether to launch any consultation into codes of conduct and the scope of such a consultation. I understand the Registrar is currently finalising the exact scope of the proposed consultation and will publish further details on the ORCL website when the consultation is launched.It is also for the independent Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to determine whether a code of conduct a registrant wishes to declare on the Register is 'relevant'. It is for the Registrar to determine whether to make known information about where a code of conduct has failed to meet the test of relevance, and such queries should be directed towards the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.

Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 254140, how many instances there have been of consultant lobbying firms listing a code of conduct in their entry to the Register that have failed to meet the test that the code is relevant, as defined by the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.

Kevin Foster: The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 established it is the role of the Registrar to keep and publish the Registrar of consultant lobbyists, in which third party lobbyists declare the names of their clients, and whether or not they subscribe to a relevant code of conduct.The Registrar has a duty to monitor compliance, and the power to undertake enforcement action against non-compliance. Therefore, it is for the Registrar to determine whether to launch any consultation into codes of conduct and the scope of such a consultation. I understand the Registrar is currently finalising the exact scope of the proposed consultation and will publish further details on the ORCL website when the consultation is launched.It is also for the independent Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to determine whether a code of conduct a registrant wishes to declare on the Register is 'relevant'. It is for the Registrar to determine whether to make known information about where a code of conduct has failed to meet the test of relevance, and such queries should be directed towards the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.

One Public Estate Programme: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants work on the One Public Estate programme; and what the staffing budget is for that programme.

Oliver Dowden: One Public Estate is a programme delivered in partnership by the Office of GovernmentProperty, within Cabinet Office, and the Local Government Association. The programmecurrently employs 29 members of staff across the two organisationsThe Office of Government Property employs 12 civil servants within the One Public Estateprogramme, of which two are employed at 0.5 full time equivalent (FTE), equating to a total of 11 FTE posts. In addition, the programme is currently recruiting two vacant Office of Government Property posts.The total staffing and IT costs for the One Public Estate programme in 2018/19 were£1,882,195. The total staffing budget for 2019/20 is in the process of being confirmed.

Government Departments: Zero Hours Contracts

Jo Stevens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of outsourced roles relating to buildings run by the Government are employed on zero hours contracts.

Oliver Dowden: Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally. Each government department is responsible for their outsourced roles.

Living Wage

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of jobs in (a) the UK, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) Barnsley are paid the National Living Wage.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 52.59 KB)

Minimum Wage

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of jobs in (a) the UK, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) Barnsley are paid the National Minimum Wage.

Kevin Foster: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 52.59 KB)

European Parliament: Elections

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many EU citizens were registered to vote in the 2019 European parliamentary elections.

Kevin Foster: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given to Question 248742 on 3 May 2019.

Politics and Government

Jack Brereton: What steps the Government is taking to strengthen the Union.

Mr David Lidington: We have delivered policies that benefit all four nations of the UK, including committing over £2.4 billion to thirteen city and growth deals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and spending around £19 billion a year of our defence budget with UK industry, supporting 115,000 jobs across the UK.